Charles Smith
There are approximately 10,737 people named Charles Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 31,923 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Charles with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
10,737
1 in 31,923
Named Charles
1.3M
Alive today
Named Smith
2.8M
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.3M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 57
Estimated bearers: 2.8M
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #1
Per 100K: 828.19
Top ancestry: White (70.9%)
First name trend
Charles: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Charles. The peak year was 1947 with 40,917 births. The average person named Charles today is 57 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Smith surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Smith, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 70.9%.
- White70.9%
- Black or African American23.1%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races2.2%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Charles has a living-bearer frequency of 0.3782% of the US population, based on 1,296,413 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Smith appears at a rate of 828.19 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.8282%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 10,737 people with the full name Charles Smith. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Charles
Related
Other people with the surname Smith
FAQ
Charles Smith: questions and answers
How many people are named Charles Smith?
We estimate approximately 10,737 people in the United States share the full name Charles Smith. That works out to about 1 in 31,923 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.3782%) with the surname frequency (828.19 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Charles Smith?
We classify Charles Smith as "Uncommon". About 1 in 31,923 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Charles a male or female name?
Charles is predominantly male. Out of 2,441,151 total SSA registrations, 99.5% were male and 0.5% were female. See the full Charles profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.