Charm
Derived from the French word "charme," meaning grace or enchantment.
Name Census estimates that about 1,091 living Americans carry the first name Charm. It is a predominantly female name (94.9% of registrations). The average person named Charm today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charm births was 2024 (129 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charm. 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 Charm with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Charm is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 314,165 Americans
Peak year
2024
129 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,704
Tracked since 1937
Census
Charm in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 642 people with the first name Charm, which placed it at #17,263 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
#17,263
National first-name rank
People counted
642
642 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charm
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charm is Black at 53.7%. The next largest groups are White (24.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%). 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 Charm 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 Charm at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.7% · 345
- White24.5% · 157
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.3% · 79
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 34
- Two or more races3.6% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Charm
Charm leans heavily female at 94.9% of total registrations, but 57 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Charm as a male name
- Ranked #7,838 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (12 births)
Charm as a female name
- Ranked #1,704 in 2024
- 119 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (119 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charm leans strongly female. 581 people counted with this name were female (90.1%), compared with 64 male bearers (9.9%).
Popularity
Charm: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charm from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 570 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charm 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 Charm during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charms live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Louisiana, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Charm, while South Carolina, Missouri, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Charm
The name Charm originates from the Old French word "charme," which itself is derived from the Latin word "carmen," meaning a song, verse, or charm. The name likely emerged in the Middle Ages, initially used to describe a magical spell or incantation.
In ancient times, charms were often used in pagan rituals and ceremonies, perhaps contributing to the name's early association with mysticism and the supernatural. However, as Christianity spread throughout Europe, the name lost some of its occult connotations and became more closely tied to ideas of attraction, allure, and personal charisma.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Charm appears in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, written in the late 14th century. In the prologue, Chaucer describes the Squire as having "a semely man to been an amiable Charm." This usage suggests that by the 14th century, Charm had evolved into a descriptor of someone possessing an appealing, charming presence.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Charm. In the 16th century, Charm Hendricks was a renowned Dutch painter known for her exquisite portraits and still-life works (1555-1624). Later, in the 18th century, Charm Ackermann was a German composer and musician who contributed significantly to the development of early Romantic musical forms (1756-1801).
Moving into the 19th century, Charm Dickens was a British novelist and social critic, the daughter of the celebrated author Charles Dickens (1837-1896). Her memoir, "Reflections of a Charming Daughter," provides valuable insights into the life and works of her famous father.
In the 20th century, Charm Curie was a French physicist and chemist, following in the footsteps of her famous parents, Marie and Pierre Curie (1897-1972). She made groundbreaking contributions to the study of radioactivity and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935.
Finally, in more recent times, Charm Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist (1928-2014). Her powerful and influential works, such as "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," explored themes of identity, race, and personal resilience, cementing her status as a literary icon.
People
Charm + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charm 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
Charm: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charm?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,091 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charm 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 314,165 US residents.
Is Charm a common name?
We classify Charm as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charm most popular?
The single biggest year for Charm was 2024, when 129 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charm is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charm in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 642 people with the name Charm, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,263 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 Charm 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 Charm?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charm leans strongly female. 581 people counted with this name were female (90.1%), compared with 64 male bearers (9.9%). 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 Charm?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charm is Black at 53.7%. The next largest groups are White (24.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%). 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 Charm most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Charm in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.7% (345 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 Charm in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charm a female name?
Yes, 94.9% of people registered as Charm 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 Charm still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charm 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 Charm 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 people have the name Charm?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Charm, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.