The name Charley is a girl's name of French, English origin meaning "free man".

French Names

English Names

French Names for Girls

English Names for Girls

7 Letter Girl Names

UK Baby Names

UK Girl Names

Names Ending in Y for Girls

Names That Mean Variation

Two Syllable Names for Girls

Names that Peaked in 2014

Girl Dog Names That Start With C

Dog Names That Start With C

Animal Names for Girls

Names that end in y

French Names that Start With C

English Names that Start With C

Top Baby Names 2024: The Playground Analysis

Top Baby Names 2025: The Playground Analysis

Unisex Names That Switched From Boy to Girl

Charlie and its many forms are on the rise -- including Charley, which relates more directly to the male formal name Charles. Surprisingly, though, while the number of girls and boys named Charlie are nearly even, there are six times as many girls named Charley than boys. 
 
The Charley spelling still ranks in the Top 1000 for girls, though it's fourth in popularity behind Charlie, Charlee, and Charli.

Unisex Names that were traditionally Boy Names

Baby Names Ending in Ley

New Names of the 2010s

Dog Names

Gender Neutral Cat Names 

Boyish Nicknames for Girls

Unisex Names for Girls

Names With Lots of Spellings

Charley

French

English

Nameberry

Unisex

Future

England

The name Charley is currently ranked #760 in U.S. births. and peaked for girls at #489 in 2014. The name is most popular in CHARLEY, CHARLEY, and CHARLEY. Charley is occasionally used for boys in 2025.

Charlie

The name Charley is a boy's name meaning "free man".

7 Letter Boy Names

Names Ending in Y for Boys

Names That Mean Form

Two Syllable Names for Boys

Names that Peaked in 1880

Boy Dog Names That Start With C

Animal Names for Boys

Charley is, at this point, an old-fashioned spelling for the most popular short form of Charles, better known these days as Charlie. But Charley is a classic and relates more directly to Charles. 

While the y ending may be more traditionally masculine than ie, girls named Charley outnumber boys four to one, while Charlie is split nearly evenly between the sexes. If you're considering naming your son Charles and styling his nickname Charley, be aware that with 20 times more male Charlies than Charleys, you and your child will face constant misspellings. 
 
This spelling was used for characters by Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell in her novel Sylvia's Lovers and by Brandon Thomas in his play Charley's Aunt.

Victorian Boy Names

Popular Nicknames

Names That Mean Freedom or Free

Victorian Names from the 1800s

Sugary Sweet Names for Boys

Names from Theater

Unique

The name Charley is currently ranked #987 in U.S. births. and peaked for boys at #59 in 1880. It is currently rising in popularity. The name is most popular in CHARLEY, CHARLEY, and CHARLEY. Charley is also used for girls, ranking #760 in 2025 (more popular).

Charles

Year	US rank	Births	Per million
2014	#489	641	358.8
2015	#520	603	337.8
2016	#558	560	316
2017	#513	611	353.9
2018	#562	553	325.1
2019	#551	552	328.9
2020	#537	561	347
2021	#617	480	292.5
2022	#700	421	256.7
2023	#726	387	241.2
2024	#729	385	237.6
2025	#760	356	221.5

Charley

About Charley

Popularity & trends

World rankings

Similar names

Famous Charleys

Charley in pop culture

Charley in blog posts

Charley on more lists

Advanced Search

Save Charley