Charmian
A feminine name of uncertain origin meaning "woman from Charmai".
Name Census estimates that about 239 living Americans carry the first name Charmian. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charmian today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charmian births was 1970 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charmian. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Charmian with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
239
~ 1 in 1,434,119 Americans
Peak year
1970
18 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1986 SSA rank
#7,879
Tracked since 1914
Census
Charmian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 377 people with the first name Charmian, which placed it at #25,213 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,213
National first-name rank
People counted
377
377 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charmian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charmian is White at 61.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Charmian described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Charmian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.8% · 233
- Black or African American18.6% · 70
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.8% · 37
- Two or more races4.5% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
Popularity
Charmian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charmian from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 106 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Charmian remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charmian by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Charmian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charmians live
Origin
Meaning and history of Charmian
The name Charmian has its origins in ancient Greek, derived from the word "charmosyne," which means joy or delight. It is believed to have first emerged in the region of Greece during the classical period.
In the first century BC, the name Charmian gained historical significance when it was associated with Charmian, a loyal servant and confidante of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. She was mentioned in several ancient texts, including the works of Plutarch and Shakespeare's play "Antony and Cleopatra."
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Charmian was Charmian of Alexandria, a courtesan who lived in the 1st century BC. She was known for her beauty and intelligence, and her name has been immortalized in various literary works.
Another notable Charmian in history was Charmian Kittredge (1857-1932), an American writer and educator. She was one of the founders of the Radcliffe Chautauqua Society and played a significant role in promoting women's education.
In the 20th century, Charmian London (1871-1955) was an American writer and the wife of the famous author Jack London. She co-authored several books with her husband and was known for her adventurous spirit and love of travel.
Charmian Carr (1942-2016) was an American actress and author, best known for her role as Liesl von Trapp in the classic film "The Sound of Music." Her portrayal of the eldest Von Trapp daughter endeared her to audiences worldwide.
Charmian Hussey (1914-1994) was a British writer and journalist who gained recognition for her novels and non-fiction works, particularly her book "The Life of Christ," which was a bestseller in the 1960s.
While the name Charmian is not as common today as it once was, it has left an indelible mark on history, with its unique charm and association with notable individuals from various walks of life.
People
Charmian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charmian as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Charmian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charmian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 239 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charmian going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,434,119 US residents.
Is Charmian a common name?
We classify Charmian as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 473 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charmian most popular?
The single biggest year for Charmian was 1970, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charmian is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charmian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 377 people with the name Charmian, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,213 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Charmian in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Charmian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charmian leans strongly female. 375 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Charmian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charmian is White at 61.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Charmian most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Charmian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.8% (233 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Charmian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charmian a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charmian in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Charmian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charmian in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Charmian can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Charmian?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Charmian, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.