UK girl's name
Charlotte
A feminine name of French origin meaning "petite and feminine".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Charlotte is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Charlotte popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #23, with 1,418 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1996, with 5,866 births.
This profile covers 88,733 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 24% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 97,116 living people in the UK are called Charlotte. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Charlotte ranked #23 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 1,418 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1996, when 5,866 girls were registered as Charlotte.
- • Charlotte ranks best in London in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #2 in 2004.
- • About 97,116 living people in the UK are estimated to have Charlotte as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#23
2024
Births in 2024
1,418
Latest year
Peak year
1996
5,866 births
Estimated living
97,116
2026
Meaning
What does Charlotte mean?
The name Charlotte is derived from the French feminine diminutive form of the name Charles. It is a Germanic name, from the Old High German word "Karl" meaning "free man" or "manly." The name Charles also derives from the German name Karl, which was from the common adjective relating to the individual's make of being a "husband."
In the Late Antiquity period, the popularity of the name Charles was bolstered by its use in honor of Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, the King of the Franks who built a vast empire across western and central Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries. The feminine form Charlotte emerged in France in the Middle Ages, in the 12th century.
The earliest recorded example of the name Charlotte dates back to 1472 when it was used by Charlotte of Savoy, the second queen of King Louis XI of France. Another notable early bearer of the name was Charlotte of Albret, a 16th century French princess, who was the wife of Cesar Borgia and the subject of a famous portrait by Raphael.
In English history, one of the most prominent figures named Charlotte was Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III. Born in 1744, she was instrumental in establishing many charitable organizations and cultural institutions in Britain during her reign as queen consort from 1761 until her death in 1818.
Other famous women named Charlotte throughout history include:
Charlotte Corday (1768-1793), the French revolutionary who assassinated the Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat during the Reign of Terror.
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the English novelist and poet, best known for her classic novel Jane Eyre.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), the American feminist, writer, and social reformer whose works explored issues of gender and mental health.
Charlotte Cooper (1870-1966), the English tennis player who won five Wimbledon singles titles in the early 20th century.
Charlotte Salomon (1917-1943), the German-Jewish artist known for her autobiographical series of paintings called Life? or Theatre? created while in hiding during the Holocaust.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Charlotte over time
The chart below shows babies named Charlotte registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Charlotte, the clearest high point is 1996. The latest England and Wales figure is 1,418 births in 2024, compared with 5,866 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charlotte by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Charlotte was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #23 | 7,673 | 5 |
| 2010s | #18 | 22,670 | 10 |
| 2000s | #10 | 36,599 | 10 |
| 1990s | #7 | 21,791 | 4 |
Geography
Where Charlotte is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Charlotte. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Charlotte ranks best in London in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #2 in 2004.
Across the UK
Charlotte in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#10 in 2024
51 years of NRS records, 6,828 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#6 in 2024
28 years of NISRA records, 2,144 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Charlotte
-
Charlotte Guest
writer; entrepreneur; merchant; translator; linguist; art collector
noblewoman; Welsh translator and business woman (1812-1895)
1812-1895
Related
Names similar to Charlotte
- Chloe 111,265
- Caitlin 28,931
- Courtney 23,162
- Chelsea 13,049
- Clara 9,435
- Connie 8,402
- Catherine 8,376
- Charlie 7,964
- Cerys 7,506
- Casey 7,018
- Cara 6,375
- Ciara 5,845
FAQ
Charlotte: questions and answers
How popular is the name Charlotte in the UK right now?
In 2024, Charlotte was ranked #23 for girls in England and Wales, with 1,418 births registered.
When was Charlotte most popular?
The peak year on record was 1996, with 5,866 babies registered as Charlotte in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Charlotte?
A feminine name of French origin meaning "petite and feminine".
How many people are called Charlotte in the UK?
A total of 88,733 babies have been registered as Charlotte across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 6,828 more in Scotland and 2,144 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Charlotte most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Charlotte ranks best in London, where it placed #2 in 2004. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.