Charles Wilson
There are approximately 3,371 people named Charles Wilson living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 101,677 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Charles with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Wilson. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
3,371
1 in 101,677
Named Charles
1.3M
Alive today
Named Wilson
891K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.3M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 57
Top Census group: White (79.5%)
Estimated bearers: 891K
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #14
Per 100K: 260.05
Top ancestry: White (64.5%)
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
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charles
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Charles, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 79.5%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Charles described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Charles at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White79.5% · 960,218
- Black or African American12.7% · 153,781
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 37,090
- Two or more races2.9% · 34,997
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 14,328
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 7,561
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Wilson surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Wilson, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 64.5%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Wilson described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Wilson at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White64.5% · 501,019
- Black or African American25.5% · 198,581
- Two or more races4.7% · 36,207
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 27,928
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 7,617
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 5,923
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).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Charles right now.
The surname Wilson appears at a rate of 260.05 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.2600%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 3,371 people with the full name Charles Wilson. 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 Wilson
FAQ
Charles Wilson: questions and answers
How many people are named Charles Wilson?
We estimate approximately 3,371 people in the United States share the full name Charles Wilson. That works out to about 1 in 101,677 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.3782%) with the surname frequency (260.05 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Charles Wilson?
We classify Charles Wilson as "Rare". About 1 in 101,677 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 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people have the full name Charles Wilson?
If you just want to know how common the name Charles Wilson is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.