Recorded 1888–2025 · United States
Charlene was most popular in 1952, when 3,557 American babies were given the name — ranking #204 that year. In 2025 it ranked #3,549, with 99 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 134,111 people named Charlene.
Charlene first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1888, which makes it about 137 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 132 of the 138 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 134,111 American births named Charlene between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 96,854 are estimated to be alive today.
99 American babies were named Charlene in 2025, ranking #3,549 that year.
Charlene is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 108 births a year, against 138 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -21% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Charlene is a girl’s name — 99.7% of the 134,111 Americans given it were girls and 0.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 96,854 Americans named Charlene are alive today — 72% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 66 years old, and half are between 54 and 75.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Germanic · feminine diminutive of Charles
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Charlene on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org