Charles
Charles is the 526th most common surname in the United States, shared by 62,686 people at the 2020 census. That is about one person in 4,768.
By the numbers
- People
- 62,686
- Rank
- 526th
- How common
- 1 in 4,768
- Per 100,000
- 21.0
Where the name comes from
Origin a patronymic
From French Charles, from Old French Charles, Carles, from Latin Carolus, and also reinfluenced by Frankish and Old High German Karl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“free man”); compare the English word churl and the German Kerl. In reference to the Ecuadorian island, a clipping of the original name King Charles's Island, granted in honor of Charles II of England.
Etymology from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Who bears the name
How people with the surname Charles described their own race and Hispanic origin at the 2020 census:
Notable people called Charles
- Ray Charles (1930–2004)American singer, pianist and songwriter
- Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen (1771–1847)Archduke of Austria
- John Charles (1931–2004)Welsh association football player
- Jacques Charles (1746–1823)French inventor, scientist, mathematician, and balloonist
- Eugenia Charles (1919–2005)Prime Minister of Dominica
- Balthasar Charles (1629–1646)Prince of Asturias;
- Josh Charles (born 1971)American actor
- Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (1903–1983)prince, painter
People named Charles with articles in the most Wikipedia languages. Data from Wikidata (CC0).
Surnames like Charles
Also a first name
Charles has been given to 2,447,135 American babies as a first name since 1880, peaking in 1947. See it as a given name.
Try it on yourself
Source: US Census Bureau, Frequently Occurring Surnames, 2020. The Census describes the file as the surnames borne by 100 or more people; rarer names are not published. The line is not quite exact, and 617 published names come in under it, the smallest at 92 people. Race and Hispanic origin are self-reported. Rates are worked out against the 298.9 million people the file's own figures are calculated on, which is fewer than the census counted in all: the difference is everyone whose surname was too rare to publish.