Charles is the French and English form of the Germanic karl and means "free man". Charlemagne, Charles the Great, made it a royal name across Europe, and in the English-speaking world it belongs to Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin and Charles Lindbergh, as well as the current British king. Charles is one of the most stable names in the United States: number 51 in 2000, never outside the top 60 in this century, and number 48 among boys in 2025.