How Many People Are Named Charley?
An estimated 17,711 people in the United States have the first name Charley. It is used for both genders, with 68.5% male. The average bearer is 30 years old, and Charley peaked in popularity in 2014 with 719 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Charley 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 Charley paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Charley has undergone a significant gender shift. Originally given predominantly to boys, it is now more commonly a girls' name.
Estimated Living Americans
17,711
About 1 in 19,353 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
68.5% confidence
Average Age
30
years old
Peak Year
2014
719 births
Total Registered
34,872
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Charley
Charley is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (68.5%) and females (31.5%). Out of 34,872 total births registered, 23,885 were male and 10,987 were female.
Charley as a male name
Ranked #1,830 in 2024
88 male births in 2024
Peak: 1920 (485 births)
Charley as a female name
Ranked #729 in 2024
385 female births in 2024
Peak: 2014 (641 births)
Charley: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Charley span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 6,233 babies were registered. While Charley is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Charley by Decade
How has Charley 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 | 2,550 | 2,550 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 1,755 | 1,755 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 1,645 | 1,633 | 12 | |
| 1910s | 3,609 | 3,530 | 79 | |
| 1920s | 4,137 | 3,984 | 153 | |
| 1930s | 2,554 | 2,423 | 131 | |
| 1940s | 1,954 | 1,852 | 102 | |
| 1950s | 1,466 | 1,414 | 52 | |
| 1960s | 1,032 | 1,021 | 11 | |
| 1970s | 802 | 727 | 75 | |
| 1980s | 1,013 | 625 | 388 | |
| 1990s | 1,095 | 440 | 655 | |
| 2000s | 2,358 | 631 | 1,727 | |
| 2010s | 6,233 | 865 | 5,368 | |
| 2020s | 2,669 | 435 | 2,234 | |
Charley by State
Birth registrations for Charley span all 44 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Oklahoma, California. The lowest are in New Hampshire, North Dakota, Maine. On average, about 488 Charleys were registered per state.
Charley + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Charley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Charley
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Charley: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charley?
We estimate approximately 17,711 people named Charley 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 19,353 Americans share this first name.
Is Charley a common name?
Charley is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 34,872 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Charley most popular?
Charley reached peak popularity in 2014, when 719 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Charley is approximately 30 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Charley a male name?
Charley is predominantly male. 68.5% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Charley Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Charley Smith, Charley Johnson, Charley 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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