girl's name
Charlee
CHAR-lee
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 22,454
the United States
#417
2025 births
Charlee is a girl's name of Germanic origin, a respelling of Charlie. The root is karl, a free man — specifically a man who was free but not noble, which is a more precise class than the usual gloss suggests.
- Charlee is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2019, when 1,196 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,311 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1914.
Charlee over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 5 |
| 1920s | 5 |
| 1930s | 22 |
| 1940s | 86 |
| 1950s | 107 |
| 1960s | 55 |
| 1970s | 178 |
| 1980s | 458 |
| 1990s | 778 |
| 2000s | 2,234 |
| 2010s | 10,019 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,802 |
What Charlee means
Charlee means a free man, from the Germanic karl. The word named a specific rank: free, but a commoner rather than a noble, so it distinguished the free peasantry from the aristocracy.
Where Charlee comes from
Charlee respells Charlie, a pet form of Charles, from the Germanic karl, a free man. The word's precision matters: a karl was free but not noble, and Old Norse used it the same way — a karl stood between a thrall and a jarl. Charlemagne's fame turned the word into a royal name across Europe, and in Slavic languages karl became the ordinary word for a king, giving král and król. The EE spelling is a modern American variant used for girls and appears in our records from 1914, rising steeply after 2010.
Charlee in use
Charlee charts in only two of the seven countries we track and peaked in 2019.
How popular is Charlee?
In 2025, Charlee was given to 769 babies in the United States, ranking #417 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Charlee is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Charlee
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Charlee also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Charlee over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Charlee
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Charlee in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Charlee
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Charlee — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Charlee
What does the name Charlee mean?
A free man, from the Germanic karl — free but not noble, a specific rank rather than a general compliment.
Why does Charlemagne matter to the name?
His fame turned karl into a royal name across Europe, and in Slavic languages it became the ordinary word for a king.
What is the difference between Charlee and Charlie?
Only the spelling. Charlee is a modern American variant used for girls.
How popular is the name Charlee?
In 2025, Charlee was given to 769 babies in the United States, ranking #417 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Charlee a girl's or a boy's name?
Charlee is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Charlee most popular?
Charlee peaked in 2019, when 1,196 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Charlee?
Charlee is usually shortened to Char.
Is Charlee a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Charlee currently ranks #417 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.