Charla
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "talkative" or "chatter".
Name Census estimates that about 6,319 living Americans carry the first name Charla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charla today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charla births was 1969 (219 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charla. 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 Charla with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.3K
~ 1 in 54,242 Americans
Peak year
1969
219 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2023 SSA rank
#15,663
Tracked since 1917
Census
Charla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,664 people with the first name Charla, which placed it at #3,227 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
#3,227
National first-name rank
People counted
6.7K
6,664 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charla is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Charla 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 Charla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.2% · 5,209
- Black or African American12.9% · 861
- Two or more races4.2% · 277
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 125
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 122
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 70
Popularity
Charla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charla from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,869 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charla 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 Charla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charlas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Charla, while South Carolina, New Mexico, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 150 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Charla
Charla is a feminine given name of Spanish origin, derived from the Spanish word "charla" which means "chat" or "conversation." The name likely emerged in the Spanish-speaking regions of Europe during the medieval period.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Charla dates back to the 16th century, when it was mentioned in a Spanish literary work. However, it was not a commonly used name at that time and remained relatively obscure until the late 19th century.
One of the earliest notable individuals named Charla was Charla Gutiérrez, a Spanish writer and poet who lived in the late 17th century. Her collection of love poems, titled "Charla de Amor," was widely acclaimed and contributed to the popularization of the name.
In the 18th century, Charla Fernández, a Spanish noblewoman and philanthropist, gained recognition for her charitable works and efforts to improve the lives of the underprivileged. Her legacy helped establish the name in aristocratic circles.
During the 19th century, Charla Martínez, a renowned Spanish artist, became famous for her vibrant portraits and landscapes. Her artistic contributions further elevated the name's prestige.
In the early 20th century, Charla Rivera, a Spanish-American civil rights activist, played a significant role in advocating for the rights of migrant workers in the United States. Her activism and dedication to social justice brought the name Charla into the public consciousness.
While the name Charla has Spanish roots, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and regions around the world, particularly in Latin America and Spanish-speaking communities.
People
Charla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charla 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
Charla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,319 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charla 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 54,242 US residents.
Is Charla a common name?
We classify Charla as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,026 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charla most popular?
The single biggest year for Charla was 1969, when 219 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charla is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,664 people with the name Charla, or 2.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,227 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 Charla 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 Charla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charla appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,653 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Charla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charla is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Charla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Charla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (5,209 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 Charla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charla 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 Charla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charla 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 Charla 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 common is the name Charla?
See how many people have the name Charla on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.