Charles

French from German

"free man"

Charles Origin and Meaning

The name Charles is a boy's name of German, French origin meaning "free man".

Charles derives from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "man" or "free man", and is a royal name in multiple European countries. A famous early bearer is Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Lombards and then Roman Emperor in the 8th-9th centuries.

The word for "king" in several languages, including Slavic, Russian, and Polish, came from Charles. And, of course, Charles III is the current king of Great Britain.

Charles is a longtime traditional favorite that was in the Top 10 until the 1960s. Though not as popular as it once was, it's still a widely used name.

The most fashionable form of Charles today is Charlie, used almost equally for girls and boys. And of course, Charlie or Charley is still used as a short form for Charles, along with the old school Chuck and new school Chas/Chaz.

Lately, Charles has been resuscitated by many celeb parents, from Jodie Foster to Russell Crowe, honoring a distinguished history dating back to the emperor Charlemagne—the original Charles the Great.

Charles has been so well used for so long that it is virtually faceless—it can conjure up anyone from Dickens to Chaplin to Bronson. It has been an elegant royal name—designating both Bonnie Prince Charlie, leader of a 1745 rebellion, and the present king, as well as previous kings of France, Spain, England, Portugal, and Hungary.

Among the well used international versions of Charles: Carl, Carlo, Carlos, Karel, Xarles, Charlot, and Siarl.

Charles Rank in US Top 1000

# 54 in the US

Charles Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 154 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Charles

• 54 US 2023
• 154 Nameberry 2025
• 27 Canada 2023
• 68 Future 2035
• 121 England 2023
• 164 Scotland 2024
• 99 Australia 2023
• 72 New Zealand 2021
• 84 France 2023
• 39 Belgium 2023

20 Names Similar to Charles

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Charles.

• Thomas
• Edward
• Peter
• George
• Samuel
• William
• John
• Louis
• Joseph
• Harry
• Patrick
• Benjamin
• David
• Philip
• Andrew
• Robert
• Nicholas
• Daniel
• Timothy
• Paul

Famous People Named Charles

• Charles I "the Great" aka Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor
• Charles II VI, Holy Roman Emperors
• Charles I and II Kings of England, Scotland and Ireland
• Charles Philip Arthur George Prince of Wales, British heir apparent
• Charles Martel Duke of the Franks
• Charles II and III Kings of Spain
• Charles IV (born Carlos Antonio Pascual Francisco Javier Juan Nepomuceno José Januario Serafín Diego) King of Spain
• Charles II IX, Kings of France
• Charles X (born Charles Philippe) King of France
• Charles I XIII, Kings of Sweden
• Charles XIV John King of Sweden
• Charles XV (born Carl Ludvig Eugen) King of Sweden
• Charles I (born Carlos Fernando Luís Maria Victor Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis José Simão) King of Portugal
• Charles I (born Karl Franz Joseph Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria) last Emperor of Austria
• Charles I (born Charles Robert) King of Hungary
• Charles I III, Kings of Naples
• Saint Charles Borromeo Italian cardinal
• Charles John Huffam Dickens English novelist
• Charles Robert Darwin English naturalist
• Charles Andre Joseph Marie de Gaulle President of France
• Matthew Charles "Matt" Czuchry American actor
• Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin English actor and director
• Charles Warren Fairbanks 26th U.S. Vice President
• Charles Gates Dawes 30th U.S. Vice President
• Charles Curtis 31st U.S. Vice President
• Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot English actor
• (Walter) Charles Dance English actor
• Charles Monroe Schulz American cartoonist
• Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones American animator
• (Henry) Charles Bukowski (born Heinrich Karl Bukowski) American novelist
• Charles Mingus Jr. American jazz musician
• Charles Otto "Charlie" Puth Jr. American singer,songwriter
• (Louis) Charles Auguste Claude Trenet French singer,songwriter
• Charles Wade Barkley American basketball player
• Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose Jr. American broadcast presenter
• Charles Phillip Ingalls father of novelist Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky) American actor
• Charles Boyer French actor
• Charles Perrault French folklorist
• Charles Francis Adams son of U.S. President John Quincy Adams
• Charles Y.J.Gh. Michel Prime Minister of Belgium
• Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry American musician
• Charles "Charlie" Parker Jr. American musician
• Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy 5th Baron Shaughnessy, English actor
• Charles Michael Davis American model & actor
• Charles Michael Levine birth name of Chuck Lorre, American TV writer and producer
• Charles "Charlie" Carver American actor; twin brother Max Carver
• Charles Edward Durning American actor
• John Charles Carter birth name of American actor Charlton Heston
• Charles Samuel "Chas" Addams American cartoonist
• Charles Henry Holden English architect
• Charles Atangana Cameroonian chief
• Charles Kuralt American TV journalist
• Charles Valentin Alkan, French composer
• Charles Villiers Stanford Irish composer
• Charles Nelson Reilly American actor
• Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson American TV journalist
• Charles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman American film director and writer
• Charles Carroll of Carrollton signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence
• Charles Elmer "Rip" Taylor Jr American actor
• Charles Peckham "Charlie" Day American actor/comedian
• Charles George "Charlie" Macartney Australian cricketer
• Charles Edward Spearman English psychologist
• Charles Stewart Parnell Irish politician and revolutionary
• Charles Devoe American model
• Charles Conrad "Chad" Lowe American actor and brother of Rob Lowe
• Charles W. Misner American physicist
• Charles Michael "Bucky" Lasek American pro skateboarder
• Charles Albert Gobat Swiss politician and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
• Charles Babbage English polymath
• Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor former president of Liberia
• Charles "Charlie" Bassett American Western figure
• Charles Doyle "Charlie" Haas II American pro wrestler
• Charles Grodin American actor
• Charles Stewart Howard American owner of racehorse Seabiscuit
• Charles Rocket (born Charles Adams Claverie) American actor/comedian
• Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer U.S. Senator from New York
• Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley U.S. Senator from Iowa
• Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel former U.S. Secretary of Defense
• Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager U.S. Air Force general and test pilot
• Charles A Bassett II American astronaut
• Charles Paul Trippy III Youtube personality "CTFxC," bassist for We The Kings
• Charles Alden Black and Charles Alden Black Jr. husband and son of child star Shirley Temple
• Charles Lee American Revolutionary general
• Charles Stephen "Chad" Paine III American reality TV personality; husband of Erin (Bates) Paine of "Bringing Up Bates"
• Charles Stephen "Carson" Paine IV son of Erin Bates Paine & Chad Paine
• Charles Spencer "Charlie" Crowe son of actor Russell Crowe
• Charles McHugh O'Donnell son of actor Chris O'Donnell
• Charles Max "Charley" Feldman (b. 2016) son of Savannah Guthrie and Mike Feldman
• Charles Leclerc monegasque formula one racing driver
• Charles Elisha Manning (b. 2019) son of American football quarterback Eli Manning
• Charles Osgood (b. 1933) retired American radio & television personality hosted CBS Sunday Morning
• Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 1892) famous Baptist preacher called the "Prince of Preachers"
• Charles Schwab (b. 1937) American investor financial executive, philanthropist
• Charles Martinet (b. 1955) Voice of Mario Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, Baby Luigi, Baby Mario for Nintendo video games

The name Charles in Pop Culture

• Charles "Charlie" Kelly main character from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Charles "Chip" Shreck character in DC Universe
• Charles DiLaurentis Uber A from 'Pretty Little Liars'
• Charles Augustus Milverton (or Magnussen) villain in the 'Sherlock Holmes' series
• Charles Bingley character in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"
• Charles "Chuck" Bass character in the "Gossip Girl" series
• Charles Francis Xavier aka Professor X from Marvel Universe
• Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski main character on TV's "Chuck"
• Charles "Trip" Tucker character on TV's "Star Trek: Enterprise"
• Charles "Charlie" Fineman character in movie "Reign Over Me"
• Charles "Chuck" Levine character in movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry"
• Charles Lee character in the video game "Assassin's Creed III" (based on a historical Revolutionary War general of the same name)
• Charles "Charlie" Eppes character on TV's "Numb3rs"
• Charles 'Charlie' Weasley character in the Harry Potter series
• Charles Dalimar character in video game Mystery Case Files Ravenhearst series
• Charles Emerson Winchester III character in the TV series "M*A*S*H"
• Charles "Charley" Hardy character in G. A. Henty's, Out on the Pampas
• Charles Macaulay character in Donna Tartt's "The Secret History"
• Charles "Charlie" Bone the protagonist of Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
• Charles Hamilton character in "Gone with the Wind"
• Charles Blake character on Downton Abbey
• Charles "Chuck" Hansen character in "Pacific Rim"
• Charles Foster Kane character in "Citizen Kane"
• Charles LaRousse Dreyfus character in The Pink Panther film series
• Charles "Chuck" Scolnik character in the TV series "One Tree Hill"
• Charles main character on the TV series "Charles in Charge"
• Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns aka Mr. Burns, character on "The Simpsons"
• Charles Boyle character in the TV series "Brooklyn Nine,Nine"
• Charles Baker "Dill" Harris character in the novel and film "To Kill a Mockingbird"
• Charles Vance character in the TV series Star Trek: Discovery, Fleet Admiral Charles Vance is a 32nd century human

International Variations of the name Charles

• Karel Dutch
• Tearlach Gaelic
• Séarlas Irish Gaelic
• Karol Polish
• Carlos Spanish
• Siarl Welsh
• Carel Polish
• Kaarle Finnish
• Karl German
• Xarles Basque
• Károly Hungarian
• Charlot French
• Carlo Italian
• Carlus Irish