nametree
← Charlettebrowse · build a nametreeCharli →

Charley

gender-neutral name
Origin
Germanic
Syllables
2
Peak era
2010s
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Charley and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

diminutive or feminine form of Charles, from the Germanic Karl, 'man'

The story

Charley is Charles at its most comfortable, a diminutive and feminine form of the old Germanic Karl, "man," and its American century runs in two acts. Act one belongs to the boys: 3,984 in the 1920s, fading gently to triple digits by the 1970s. Act two changes the lead: the girls' column, a quiet few hundred for decades, reaches 1,728 in the 2000s and then 5,369 across the 2010s against the boys' 865, with 2,592 more so far this decade. Same name, same spelling, entirely new career: the same -ey ending, wearing an entirely new career. Brazil's census adds 565 residents for texture. Charles keeps the throne and the formality; Charley took the porch, the bicycle, and, lately, the birth certificate.

More names with stories →

The formal names behind Charley

Charley is an established short form of this name.

Charles · Germanic origin · "man," from the Germanic Karl (Proto-Germanic *karlaz)

Why we verify every short-form relationship →

Charley across languages

One shared root links 24 names across 7 languages.

Shared root: traditionally linked to Germanic karl, meaning "man"; Latin form Carolus

The constellation

CharleyEnglish · diminutiveCharlesEnglishCarlScandinavianKarlGermanCarloItalianKarolPolishCaroleFrenchCarolinaPortuguese
16 more branches of this family
CharlieEnglish · diminutiveCharleeEnglish · variantCarolEnglish · short formCarolineFrench · feminine formKarolineGerman · variantCarolynEnglish · variantCarolynnEnglish · variantCarrieEnglish · short formCarlaItalian · feminine formCarlyEnglish · diminutiveCarleyEnglish · variantCarlieEnglish · variantCharlotteFrench · feminine formCharletteEnglish · variantCharleneEnglish · feminine formLottieEnglish · diminutive

Ways to honor Charles →

How popular is Charley around the world?

In the United States, 3,116 babies were named Charley between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 8 girls named Charley were registered in 2024, the 384th most common name among girls that year.

Charley is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, Canada, Ireland, South Australia, England and Wales and Brazil.

United States

1 in 7,000

In the United States, 3,116 babies were named Charley between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 2010s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Charley peaked in the 2010s. In US birth records, Charley went mostly to boys before the 1990s and mostly to girls in every decade since. In US birth records Charley has stayed between 802 and 6,234 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Scotland

1 in 5,700

In Scotland, 8 girls named Charley were registered in 2024, the 384th most common name among girls that year.

1974peak 20072024

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

See the full list for Scotland →

Canada

1 in 11,000

In Canada, 25 girls named Charley were born in 2024, ranked 1,050th among girls that year.
In Canada, 9 boys named Charley were born in 2024, ranked 2,134th among boys that year.

1991peak 20132024

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

See the full list for Canada →

Ireland

1 in 14,000

In Ireland, 4 girls named Charley were born in 2025, the 718th most common name among girls that year.

1980peak 20102025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

See the full list for Ireland →

South Australia

1 in 18,000 · 2017

In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Charley in 2017.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

England and Wales

1 in 25,000

In England and Wales, 20 girls named Charley were born in 2025, ranked 1,512th among girls that year.

peak 19982025

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

Brazil

1 in 330,000

At the 2022 census, 565 people in Brazil were named Charley, ranked 12,295th, with a median age of 38.
Among people named Charley living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.

1960speak 1980s2000s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

See the full list for Brazil →

Austria

last on record 2017

Charley is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

See the full list for Austria →

France

last on record 2024

Charley is not on the 2025 record for France, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.

1900peak 1993

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

See the full list for France →

Montevideo City

last on record 1977

Charley is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

Names that fit alongside Charley

Ray Hank Fred Emma Ed Bill

Keep exploring

Gender-neutral names · Names that switched sides · Familiar but never popular

Name trails: explore connections from Charley →

The Charley deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Charley truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Charley fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

Does Charley fit YOUR family?

nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.

Add Charley to your family’s tree →
BROWSEAll traditions👶 Baby namesAround the worldAll names🔍 Search a nameName storiesThree-letter namesShort namesVintage revivalsGender-neutralPolishJapaneseCantoneseIrishKoreanIndianMexican American
🌐English ✓EspañolPortuguês
nametree on your phoneDownload on the App StoreGet it on Google Play