Girls' name · peaked in 1949
Charlene name popularity since 1925
130,862 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Charlene. Half of them were born in 1956 or earlier, so the typical Charlene is about 70 years old in 2026. Charlene peaked in 1949 as the #100 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 130,862
- Named Charlene, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,948 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 130,480 girls · 382 boys
- Most popular in
- Hawaii
- 2.95× its national share
Peak year is the year Charlene made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Charlene births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1952. Measured as a share of all babies, Charlene peaked in 1949.
- Fastest rise: Between 1926 and 1931, Charlene became 1.9× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1990 and 1995, its share of baby girls fell by 49%, from 1 in 2,880 to 1 in 5,670.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Charlene's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Charlene.
Decade by decade
Babies named Charlene in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 3,787 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 13,471 | 56 | #146 |
| 1940s | 26,782 | 68 | #114 |
| 1950s | 32,718 | 80 | #130 |
| 1960s | 24,624 | 94 | #142 |
| 1970s | 12,547 | 50 | #226 |
| 1980s | 8,938 | 29 | #277 |
| 1990s | 3,864 | 5 | #686 |
| 2000s | 1,741 | 0 | #1,262 |
| 2010s | 1,348 | 0 | #1,533 |
| 2020–25 | 660 | 0 | #1,948 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
46.0% of babies named Charlene from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Charlene is most popular
The index compares Charlene's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Charlene.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 2.95× | 1,189 |
| District of Columbia | 1.77× | 1,050 |
| Maine | 1.77× | 975 |
| Louisiana | 1.53× | 3,534 |
| Montana | 1.50× | 566 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Charlene and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Charlene (this page) | 130,480 | 1949 |
| Charline | 4,978 | 1928 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Charlene's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Charlene.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Charlene (1949).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data