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Charly

#3,262 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Free man, through Charles

Charly has been given to 3,833 babies in the U.S. since 1975. In 2025 it ranked #3,262 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2014, with 109 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 66% girls, 34% boys all-time.

Babies named Charly, 2025

1 in 69,100

Charly over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Charly over time

In 2025, Charly went to 75% girls and 25% boys.

18842025

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.

Charly: meaning, origin, and history

Free man, through Charles

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Charly means

Charly belongs to the name family reached through Charly → Charles. Its meaning is “free man”.

Origin, language, and formation

Charly is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Charles, Charlie and Charley.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,518 girls were recorded with the name Charly between 1975 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 109 in 2014; its best national rank was #1,840 in 1986.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,117 in 2020 to #3,262 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,299 in 2015 to #3,262 in 2025.

In the United States, 1,315 boys were recorded with the name Charly between 1884 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 58 in 2004; its best national rank was #904 in 1890.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,427 in 2020 to #5,650 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,998 in 2015 to #5,650 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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Charly?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 69,100
48 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 33,500
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,262
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
47,874 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Charly sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 47,874 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Charly. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Charlys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Charly was born before 2009 — so the typical Charly is around 16 today.

Median birth year
2009
About 16 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
32.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
70.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,518
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 32.0% of all recorded uses (806).

Is Charly 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
−995
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,145
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−963
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.59×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
44.0%
Peak was 2014 (109)
Years since peak
11
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
23.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,840
1986

Spellings of Charly

Charly is not the most common spelling — Carla is, with 29.2% against Charly's 0.49%.

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 Charly is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Charly was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 2,222 girls, against 1 in 24,096 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in 100,000).

145 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 2,222
  2. 2California1 in 25,000
  3. 3Texas1 in 25,000
  4. 4Georgia1 in 33,333
  5. 5Illinois1 in 50,000
  6. 6New York1 in 50,000
  7. 7Pennsylvania1 in 50,000
  8. 8Tennessee1 in 50,000

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.

Where Charly is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Charly was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 161,597 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 100,000
  3. 3Texas1 in 100,000
  4. 4Illinois1 in —
  5. 5North Carolina1 in —
  6. 6New Jersey1 in —
  7. 7New York1 in —

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. Charly has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Charly around the world

Where Charly 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
    1996–2019
    #4,686
    in 2019
  • Scotland
    1992–2020
    #765
    in 2020
  • Northern Ireland
    1998–2007
    #351
    in 2007
  • Ireland
    2003–2005
    #689
    in 2005
  • France
    1989–2025
    #908
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #2,104
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1994–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Charly

People whose public names include Charly, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Charly in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Charly. Linked forms have their own page here.

CharleyCharlie

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Charly by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,262
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,145
Best rank ever
#1,840
1986
Peak year
2014
109 that year
First recorded
1975
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,518
Count in 2025
48

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,650
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,223
Best rank ever
#904
1890
Peak year
2004
58 that year
First recorded
1884
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,315
Count in 2025
16

Names similar to Charly

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

ChanteCharisChanceChaneyChasidyChanellChanieChayseCharlynChavaChaseChanyCharmCharnaCharliCharaChassidyCharismaCharviChanningChantalChaniChanelSherly

Names with a curve like Charly

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

YochevedElishevaBrachaShaindyZipporahJesslynHananAsmaKalenaNikaChavaRania

Sibling names for Charly

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

Explore around Charly

Top names of 2014, Charly's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1986Girls' names starting with C