Charlie

English, diminutive of Charles, French from German

"free man"

Charlie Origin and Meaning

The name Charlie is a boy's name of English origin meaning "free man".

Charlie derives, of course, from the classic name Charles which, in turn, comes from a German word meaning "free man." Charles became very popular in France during the Middle Ages due to the fame of Charles the Great, also known as Charlemagne. Charley is an alternate spelling.

Charlie is one of the friendliest names on the planet, and Good-time Charlie is back. More and more parents (of babies of both genders) these days are opting to put the friendly, genial Charlie on birth certificates.

In fact, one of the most notable things about the name Charlie is that it is used almost equally for girls and boys, given in the US last year to 2200 baby girls and 2100 baby boys. And the popularity of Charlotte and Charles mean there are even more Charlies of both sexes running around American playgrounds.

Charlie has dozens and dozens of pop cultural references, from Charlie Chaplin to Charlie McCarthy to "Charlie's Angels" to Charlie Parker to Charlie Sheen to Charlie Rose.

Putting nicknames on the birth certificate is very much a growing trend. Current celebs who have chosen Charlie for their sons include Alison Roman, Tiger Woods, Mimi Rogers, Soledad O'Brien and Sarah Chalke.

Charlie Rank in US Top 1000

# 175 in the US

Charlie Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 112 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Charlie

• 175 US 2023
• 112 Nameberry 2025
• 61 Canada 2023
• 153 Future 2028
• 17 England 2023
• 19 Scotland 2024
• 10 Ireland 2024
• 8 Australia 2024
• 11 New Zealand 2024
• 75 France 2023
• 175 Germany 2016
• 17 Sweden 2024
• 69 Belgium 2023
• 154 Switzerland 2023
• 1 Dogs 2023
• 5 Cats 2023

20 Names Similar to Charlie

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Charlie.

• Max
• Jack
• Harry
• Benjamin
• Maxwell
• Luke
• Sam
• Samuel
• Thomas
• James
• Ben
• Archie
• Louis
• William
• Miles
• Harrison
• Eli
• Isaac
• Jonah
• Leo

Famous People Named Charlie

• Charlie Sheen (born Carlos Irwin Estevez) American actor
• Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin English actor and director
• Charles Otto "Charlie" Puth Jr. American singer,songwriter
• Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels American country musician
• Charles "Charlie" Parker Jr. American jazz
• Charlie Barnes British indie musician and touring member of British band Bastille.
• Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose Jr., American journalist and TV host
• Charles Matthew "Charlie" Hunnam British actor
• Charles Peckham "Charlie" Day American actor
• Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson American TV journalist
• Charles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman American film director and screenwriter
• Charles Joseph "Charlie" McDonnell (charlieissocoollike), English vlogger
• Charles "Charlie" Callas American comedian and actor
• Charles "Charlie" Tahan American actor
• Charlie Bilodeau Canadian pair skater
• Charlie John Rowe English actor
• Charles George "Charlie" Macartney Australian cricketer
• Charles "Charlie" Bassett American Old Western lawman
• Charles Doyle "Charlie" Haas American pro wrestler
• Charles Robert "Charlie" Simpson member of British band Busted
• Charlie Thomas Cox English actor
• Charles "Charlie" Carver American actor; twin brother Max Carver
• Charles Joseph "Charlie" McDermott American actor
• Charlie Barnett American actor
• Charlie McDowell American film director; son of actors Mary Steenburgen and Malcolm McDowell
• Charlie Matthau son of actor Walter Matthau
• Charles "Charlie" Laurie (b. 1988) son of actor Hugh Laurie
• Charlie Gilmour (b. 1991) son of guitarist David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
• Charlie Ciaffa son of actress Mimi Rogers and Chris Ciaffa
• Charles Spencer "Charlie" Crowe son of actor Russell Crowe
• Charlie Harrison (b. 2002) son of actress Rebecca Lacey and Paul Harrison
• Charles "Charlie" Raymond (b. 2004) son of TV journalist Soledad O'Brien and Bradley Raymond
• Charlie Hill (b. 2007) son of singer Claire Richards and Reece Hill
• Charlie Rhodes Afifi (b. 2009) son of actress Sarah Chalke and Jamie Afifi
• Charlie Moonves (b 2009) son of TV presenter Julie Chen and executive Les Moonves
• Charlie Quivrin (b. 2009) son of actors Alice Taglioni and Jocelyn Quivrin
• Charlie McEnroe (b. 2009) son of tennis players John McEnroe and Ashley Harkleroad
• Charlie Axel Woods (b. 2009) son of golfer Tiger Woods
• Charlie Austin Cryer son of actors Jon Cryer and Sarah Trigger
• Charlie Hedman (b. 2011) son of model/singer Magdalene Graaf and footballer Magnus Hedman
• Charlie Emery (b. 2012) son of actors Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer; twin sister Poppy
• Charlie Alcott (b. 2013) son of TV presenter Katy Ashworth and Ben Alcott
• Charlie Wnuk (b. 2014) son of actors Yvonne Catterfeld and Oliver Wnuk
• Charlie West Arquette (b. 2014) son of actor David Arquette
• Charlie Ocean Goldblum (b. 2015) son of actor Jeff Goldblum
• Charlie Kirk (b. 1993) founder of Turning Point U.S.A
• Charlie Heaton American actor
• Charlie Wolf Pechenik (b. 2017) son of American actress and singer,songwriter Zooey Deschanel
• Charlie Ralph Faulborn (b. 2018) son of American actress Kelli Giddish

The name Charlie in Pop Culture

• Charlie Brown main character in the Peanuts comic strip and series
• Charlie Townsend unseen character in "Charlie's Angels," TV and movie series
• Charlie Weasley character in the "Harry Potter" series
• Charlie Peaceful character in Michael Morpurgo's "Private Peaceful"
• Charlie Harper character on TV's "Two and a Half Men," played by Charlie Sheen
• Charlie Kelly character on TV's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," played by Charlie Day
• Charlie Sonner character from Lauren Child's "Charlie and Lola"
• Charlie Pace a character on TV's "LOST"
• Charlie the Tuna the cartoon mascot for StarKist Tuna
• Charlie Francis a character on TV's "Fringe"
• "Charlie the Unicorn " YouTube cartoon
• "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud " novel by Ben Turner and 2010 film
• Charlie character in short story "Amanda's Awakening" by author Cheri Lille
• Charlie Bucket main character in Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
• Charlie Bone main character in Jenny Nimmo's "Children of the Red King" series
• Charlie Blossom character on TV's "The Worst Witch"
• Charlie Croker character in movie "The Italian Job"
• Charlie Venner character in movie "Straw Dogs,"
• Charles "Charlie" Fineman character in movie "Reign Over Me"
• Charlie Brooks character on TV's "Walker, Texas Ranger"
• Charlie Kidd character in "Sims" series
• Charlie Swan Bella's father in the Twilight Saga
• Charlie Kelmeckis main character in Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower "
• Charlie Conway character in The Mighty Ducks movies
• Charlie Calvin character in The Santa Clause movies
• Charles "Charlie" Eppes a main character on TV's "Numb3rs"
• Charles "Charlie" Hutchison character on TV's "Red Band Society"
• Charlie Dog Looney Tunes character
• Charlie B. Barkin dog in the "All Dogs Go to Heaven" film series
• Charlie Muffin main character in the Charlie M series by Brian Freemantle
• Charlie Dory's father in Pixar's "Finding Dory"
• Charlie Hesketh antagonist from "Kingsman: The Secret Service"
• "Good Luck Charlie " TV series about a female Charlie
• "Charlie Hebdo " French satirical journal
• Charlie Bucktin character in book and movie "Jasper Jones"
• "Charlie Bit Me" viral YouTube video
• Charlie Cobalt character in the Addicted Series
• Charlie Price main character in the broadway musical "Kinky Boots"
• Charlie Spring character in web comic 'Heartstopper' by Alice Oseman