Charleston

#3,002 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Charleston has been given to 3,813 babies in the U.S. since 1914. In 2025 it ranked #3,002 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2015, with 88 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 66% boys, 34% girls all-time.

Babies named Charleston, 2025

1 in 80,900

Charleston over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Charleston over time

In 2025, Charleston went to 54% girls and 46% boys.

19142025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Charleston: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Charleston means

Charleston is a given name.

The naming story behind Charleston

Wikidata records Charleston as a male given name. The entity identifier is Q55576915, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,508 boys were recorded with the name Charleston between 1914 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 88 in 2015; its best national rank was #1,582 in 1984.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,326 in 2020 to #3,002 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,745 in 2015 to #3,002 in 2025.

In the United States, 1,305 girls were recorded with the name Charleston between 1997 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 255 in 2015; its best national rank was #1,042 in 2015.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,636 in 2020 to #3,261 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,042 in 2015 to #3,261 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Charleston?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 80,900; 41 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 41,700; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #3,002; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 56,047 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Charleston sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 56,047 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Charleston. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Charlestons were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Charleston was born before 1999 — so the typical Charleston is around 26 today.

Median birth year: 1999; About 26 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 24.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 47.9%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 2,367; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 24.3% of all recorded uses (609).

Is Charleston rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: −203; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: −676; Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago: −1,257; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.47×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 46.6%; Peak was 2015 (88)
Years since peak: 10; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 22.4% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,582; 1984

Spellings of Charleston

Charleston is not the most common spelling — Carleton is, with 44.5% against Charleston's 23.1%.

Carleton44.5%4,839
Charlton32.5%3,530
Charleston23.1%2,508

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Charleston is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Charleston was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 10,000 boys, against 1 in 48,835 across all states with data. It was least common in California (1 in —).

010 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Louisiana1 in 10,000
2Georgia1 in 14,286
3Alabama1 in 20,000
4South Carolina1 in 33,333
5Tennessee1 in 33,333
6Texas1 in 50,000
7Florida1 in 100,000
8North Carolina1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Where Charleston is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Charleston was most concentrated in South Carolina — about 1 in 2,564 girls, against 1 in 18,620 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in 100,000).

139 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1South Carolina1 in 2,564
2North Carolina1 in 4,762
3Tennessee1 in 5,000
4Georgia1 in 9,091
5Arkansas1 in 20,000
6Florida1 in 25,000
7Alabama1 in 33,333
8Kentucky1 in 33,333

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Charleston around the world

Where Charleston ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
2019–2019
#3,937
in 2019

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Charleston by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #3,002
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 676
Best rank ever: #1,582; 1984
Peak year: 2015; 88 that year
First recorded: 1914
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 2,508
Count in 2025: 41

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #3,261
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 625
Best rank ever: #1,042; 2015
Peak year: 2015; 255 that year
First recorded: 1997
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 1,305
Count in 2025: 48

Names similar to Charleston

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Names with a curve like Charleston

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Charleston, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

Johannes Robinson Salim Sloan Romel Fabio Eliazar Jeronimo Aram Kendric Faisal Ramsey

Sibling names for Charleston

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Karleigh Anabelle Elin Aubri Jessa Alaysia Keren Kinsey

For a brother

Hamilton Tobin Konnor Gannon Konner Arvin Braiden Amare

Explore around Charleston

Top names of 2015, Charleston's peak year The 2010s in full Other names that peaked in 1984 Boys' names starting with C