How Many People Are Named Charlene?
An estimated 85,279 people in the United States have the first name Charlene. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 62 years old, and Charlene peaked in popularity in 1952 with 3,557 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Charlene as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Charlene paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Charlene is overwhelmingly female, 382 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Charlene has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
85,279
About 1 in 4,019 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.7% confidence
Average Age
62
years old
Peak Year
1952
3,557 births
Total Registered
134,011
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Charlene
Charlene is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 134,011 total births registered, 99.7% were female.
Charlene as a male name
Ranked #8,313 in 1990
5 male births in 1990
Peak: 1957 (14 births)
Charlene as a female name
Ranked #1,747 in 2024
115 female births in 2024
Peak: 1952 (3,546 births)
Charlene: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Charlene span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 32,798 babies were registered. Charlene has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Charlene by Decade
How has Charlene tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| 1890s | 40 | 0 | 40 | |
| 1900s | 139 | 0 | 139 | |
| 1910s | 1,282 | 0 | 1,282 | |
| 1920s | 5,570 | 0 | 5,570 | |
| 1930s | 13,527 | 56 | 13,471 | |
| 1940s | 26,850 | 68 | 26,782 | |
| 1950s | 32,798 | 80 | 32,718 | |
| 1960s | 24,717 | 94 | 24,623 | |
| 1970s | 12,597 | 50 | 12,547 | |
| 1980s | 8,967 | 29 | 8,938 | |
| 1990s | 3,869 | 5 | 3,864 | |
| 2000s | 1,741 | 0 | 1,741 | |
| 2010s | 1,348 | 0 | 1,348 | |
| 2020s | 561 | 0 | 561 | |
Charlene by State
Birth registrations for Charlene span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Illinois. The lowest are in Nevada, Delaware, Wyoming. On average, about 2,546 Charlenes were registered per state.
Charlene + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Charlene as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Charlene
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Charlene: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charlene?
We estimate approximately 85,279 people named Charlene are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 4,019 Americans share this first name.
Is Charlene a common name?
Charlene is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 134,011 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Charlene most popular?
Charlene reached peak popularity in 1952, when 3,557 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Charlene is approximately 62 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Charlene a female name?
Charlene is predominantly female. 99.7% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Charlene Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Charlene Smith, Charlene Johnson, Charlene Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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