Sharleen
A feminine name derived from the French version of Charlene, meaning "petite" or "little".
Name Census estimates that about 1,849 living Americans carry the first name Sharleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharleen today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharleen births was 1951 (133 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharleen. 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 Sharleen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 185,373 Americans
Peak year
1951
133 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2020 SSA rank
#17,145
Tracked since 1918
Census
Sharleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,317 people with the first name Sharleen, which placed it at #6,803 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
#6,803
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,317 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharleen is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.2%). 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 Sharleen 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 Sharleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.0% · 1,413
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 308
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.2% · 259
- Black or African American9.7% · 224
- Two or more races3.8% · 87
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 26
Popularity
Sharleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharleen from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 621 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharleen 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 Sharleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharleens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, New York, Michigan recorded the most babies named Sharleen, while Oregon, Florida, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharleen
The given name Sharleen has its origins in the French language and culture. It emerged as a feminine variant of the male name Charles, which derived from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "free man" or "manly". The earliest known use of the name Sharleen dates back to the 17th century in France.
Although not extensively documented in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name Sharleen gained popularity during the Middle Ages across parts of Europe, particularly in France and neighboring regions. Some scholars attribute its rise to the influence of the Carolingian dynasty, which ruled a significant portion of Europe during the 8th and 9th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sharleen can be traced back to a French noblewoman, Sharleen de Montpellier, who lived in the late 13th century. She was known for her philanthropic efforts and played a significant role in establishing several charitable organizations in the region.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sharleen. One prominent figure was Sharleen de Valois (1520-1590), a French princess and duchess who was a prominent patron of the arts and literature during the Renaissance period.
Another well-known Sharleen was Sharleen Bronte (1816-1855), the English novelist and poet, best known for her classic works such as "Jane Eyre" and "Villette". Her literary contributions have had a lasting impact on the literary world.
In the realm of science, Sharleen Curie (1867-1934), a Polish-born physicist and chemist, made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of radioactivity and was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.
The name Sharleen has also been associated with notable figures in the arts and entertainment industry. Sharleen Dietrich (1901-1992), a German-American actress and singer, was a renowned icon of Hollywood's golden age, known for her distinctive style and performances in classic films.
Lastly, Sharleen Baker (1938-2022) was an American ballet dancer and choreographer who made significant contributions to the world of dance. She was celebrated for her innovative choreography and her role in popularizing modern dance techniques.
People
Sharleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharleen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sharleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,849 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharleen 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 185,373 US residents.
Is Sharleen a common name?
We classify Sharleen as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharleen was 1951, when 133 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharleen is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,317 people with the name Sharleen, or 0.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,803 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 Sharleen 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 Sharleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharleen appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,317 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Sharleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharleen is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.2%). 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 Sharleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sharleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.0% (1,413 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 Sharleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharleen 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 Sharleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharleen 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 Sharleen 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 Sharleen?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.