Charli
A feminine diminutive form of the French name Charlotte, meaning "petite" or "little".
Name Census estimates that about 11,102 living Americans carry the first name Charli. It is a predominantly female name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Charli today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charli births was 2021 (850 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charli. 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 Charli with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Charli is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 146 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Charli is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,873 Americans
Peak year
2021
850 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#524
Tracked since 1975
Census
Charli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,055 people with the first name Charli, which placed it at #3,115 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
#3,115
National first-name rank
People counted
7.1K
7,055 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charli is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Hispanic (8.8%). 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 Charli 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 Charli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.7% · 4,915
- Black or African American13.0% · 914
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 619
- Two or more races6.6% · 466
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 67
Gender
Gender distribution for Charli
Charli leans heavily female at 98.7% of total registrations, but 146 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Charli as a male name
- Ranked #12,616 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (17 births)
Charli as a female name
- Ranked #524 in 2024
- 587 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (845 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charli leans strongly female. 6,808 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 245 male bearers (3.5%).
Popularity
Charli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charli from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,728 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Charli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charli 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 Charli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charlis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Charli, while Wyoming, South Dakota, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 197 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Charli
The name Charli is a diminutive form of the name Charles, which is derived from the Germanic name Karl. Karl comes from the Old High German word "karal," meaning "free man." The name Charles gained popularity in the Middle Ages due to the influence of Charlemagne, the famous Frankish king and Holy Roman Emperor who ruled in the late 8th and early 9th centuries.
The name Charli is thought to have originated in England during the 19th century as a nickname or shortened form of the name Charles. It was initially used as a masculine name but later gained popularity as a feminine name as well.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Charli can be found in the novel "The Mysteries of Udolpho" by Ann Radcliffe, published in 1794. In the novel, a character named Charli is mentioned, although it is unclear whether this character was male or female.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Charli. One of the earliest was Charli Chaplin (1889-1977), the famous English comic actor and filmmaker who rose to fame during the silent film era with his iconic character "The Tramp."
Another notable Charli was Charli Parker (1920-1955), the American jazz saxophonist and composer, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz music. His innovative style and improvisational skills had a profound impact on the development of modern jazz.
In the world of literature, Charli Dickens (1812-1870) was a renowned English novelist who wrote classics such as "A Tale of Two Cities," "Great Expectations," and "Oliver Twist." His works are celebrated for their vivid characters and social commentary.
In the realm of sports, Charli White (1918-1979) was an American sprinter who won four Olympic gold medals in the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. He was known for his exceptional speed and held several world records in his prime.
Finally, Charli Sheen (born 1965) is an American actor known for his roles in films such as "Platoon," "Wall Street," and the TV series "Two and a Half Men." Despite his turbulent personal life, he has had a successful career in Hollywood spanning several decades.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Charli throughout history, highlighting its enduring popularity and the diverse fields in which it has been represented.
People
Charli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charli 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
Charli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charli 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 30,873 US residents.
Is Charli a common name?
We classify Charli as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,236 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charli most popular?
The single biggest year for Charli was 2021, when 850 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charli is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,055 people with the name Charli, or 2.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,115 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 Charli 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 Charli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charli leans strongly female. 6,808 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 245 male bearers (3.5%). 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 Charli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charli is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Hispanic (8.8%). 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 Charli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Charli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.7% (4,915 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 Charli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charli a female name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Charli 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 Charli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charli 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 Charli 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 Americans are named Charli?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Charli at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.