Charles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the family name, see Charles (surname). For other uses, see Charles (disambiguation).
| Charles | |
|---|---|
 Charlemagne, King of the Franks |
|
| Gender | Male |
| Origin | |
| Word/Name | Proto-Germanic |
| Meaning | "Free Man" |
 |
Look up Charles in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Charles is a given name for males and is borrowed from the French form of the Latin Carolus < Old High German name Karl < Old Norse Karl. The initial spelling ch- corresponds to the palatalization of the Latin group ca- in Central French and the final -s to the former subject case of masculine words in Old French (< Latin -us). It shares the same Common Germanic root *karlaz as the English word churl (< Old English ċeorl),[1] where it originally was used to indicate a free man, but not one belonging to the nobility.
Other forms are Carl and Karl. Variants, including short forms, include:
Name in different languages
| Language | Formal name | Informal name |
|---|---|---|
| Armenian | Կարլոս (Karlos) | |
| Basque | Karlos | |
| Bulgarian | Карл (Karl) | |
| Catalan | Carles | |
| Croatian | Karlo | |
| Czech | Karel | |
| Danish | Karl, Carl | |
| Dutch | Karel | |
| English | Charles | Chip, Chuck, Charley, Charlie, Chas, Chaz |
| Estonian | Kaarel, Kaarli, Kaaro, Kalle | |
| Faroese | Karl | |
| Finnish | Kaarlo, Kaarle, Kalle, Karl | |
| French | Charles | Charlot |
| German | Karl, Carl | |
| Georgian | კარლო (Karlo) | |
| Greek | Κάρολος (Károlos) | |
| Hungarian | Károly, Karcsi | |
| Hawaiian | Kale | |
| Icelandic | Karl | |
| Irish | Carlus, Séarlas | |
| Italian | Carlo | |
| Latin | Carolus | |
| Latvian | Kārlis | |
| Limburgish | Sjarel | |
| Lithuanian | Karolis | |
| Norwegian | Karl, Carl | |
| Polish | Karol | |
| Portuguese | Carlos | Carlinhos |
| Romanian | Carol | |
| Russian | Карл (Karl) | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Teàrlach | |
| Serbian | Карло (Karlo) | |
| Slovak | Karol | |
| Slovene | Karel | |
| Spanish | Carlos | Carlito, Carlitos |
| Swedish | Karl, Carl, Kalle | |
| Welsh | Siarl |
First names or titles of individual people
In arts and entertainment
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Karolos Koun | Greek stage director |
Fictional people
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles in Charge | an American television sitcom |
| Chuck | an American television series |
| Charles Antoni | a character on the ABC Family TV series Lincoln Heights |
| Chuck Bass | a character in the novel series Gossip Girl |
| Charlie Brown | a character in the Peanuts comic strip |
| Charles Montgomery Burns | a character on The Simpsons, usually called "Mr. Burns" or "Monty Burns" |
| Chuck E Cheese | mouse mascot for pizza chain of same name |
| Charles Darnay | a character from the novel A Tale of Two Cities |
| Chuckie Finster | a character on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats and All Grown Up! |
| Charles Foster Kane | a character in the Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane |
| Charles Gunn | a major character on the television show Angel |
| Charlie Horse | one of Shari Lewis' puppets |
| Charles Logan (24 character) | a fictional character in the TV series 24 |
| Charlie McCarthy | Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist's dummy |
| Chucky Pancamo | a character from Oz played by Chuck Zito |
| Charles Tucker III | a fictional character on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise |
| Charley Weaver | a character of comedian Cliff Arquette |
| Major Charles Emerson Winchester III | a character on the show M*A*S*H |
| Charles Xavier (Professor 'X') | a character in the X-Men universe |
| Charles | character on the cartoon Duckman |
| Charles | wrestler in Shakespeare's As You Like It |
| Charles "Chachi" Arcola | character on Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi |
| Charles Morse | Anthony Hopkins's character in The Edge (1997) |
| Ensign Charles Parker (played by Tim Conway) | a character on the television series McHale's Navy |
| Charles Palantine | a character in the film Taxi Driver |
| Charles Stewart | a character in the movie Mona Lisa Smile |
In film
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles Bowers | American cartoonist and early film-maker |
| Charles Boyer | French-American actor |
| Roger Charles Carmel | American character actor |
| Charlie Chaplin | English comedy actor, famous for silent film acting |
| Charley Chase | American silent film comedian and writer |
| Charles Dance | English actor |
| Charles Durning | American actor |
| Charles Gray (actor) | English actor |
| Charles Grodin | American actor and cable talk show host |
| Charles Herbert | American child actor of the '50s and '60s |
| Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter) | American actor |
| Charles Laughton | English actor |
| Chas Licciardello | Australian comedian and a member of The Chaser |
| Charles Stanton Ogle | silent film actor |
| Charles Nelson Reilly | American comic actor and game show regular |
| Charles Reisner | American actor and film director |
In literature
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles Bukowski | American poet and novelist |
| Charles Dickens | English novelist |
| Charles Dodgson (pen-name Lewis Carroll) | English clergyman, writer and mathematician |
| Charles G. Finney | novelist, author of The Circus of Dr. Lao |
| Charles Henri Ford | American poet, photographer and writer |
| Charles Fort | American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena |
| Charles L. Grant | American science-fiction author |
| Charles Lummis | American journalist, poet and historian |
| Charles Olson | American poet |
| Charles G.D. Roberts | Canadian poet |
| Charles Webb (author) | American author of The Graduate |
In music
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles Aznavour | French-Armenian ballad singer. |
| Chuck Berry | American guitarist, singer and composer |
| Charlie Daniels | American country music figure |
| Charles Gavin | Brazilian rock drummer/producer |
| Charlie Haden | American Jazz bassist and composer |
| Buddy Holly | real name Charles Hardin Holley, musician |
| Charles Ives | American composer |
| Chuck Mangione | American jazz artist |
| Charles Mingus | American Jazz bassist and composer |
| Charlie Parker | American Jazz saxophonist |
| Charles "Chuck" Schuldiner | American guitarist, singer and composer |
| Charles Davis Tillman (1861–1943) | pioneer of southern gospel music |
| Sean Charles Watkins | one-third of the progressive bluegrass band Nickel Creek |
| Charlie Watts | English drummer for the rock group The Rolling Stones |
In television
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Chuck Barris | American game show producer |
| Charles Gibson | American television journalist |
| Charles Kuralt | American television journalist |
| Charles Larson (producer) | television producer and writer |
| Charlie Rose | American host of a television interview show |
In visual arts
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles Addams | American cartoonist known for his particularly black humor and macabre characters |
| Charles Dellschau | Prussian-American artist of airships |
| Chuck Jones | American animator |
| Charles R. Knight | wildlife artist, known for prehistoric restorations |
| Charles Schulz | creator of the comic strip Peanuts |
In aviation and aerospace
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles Bolton | American shuttle astronaut, current head of NASA |
| Charles Furnas | world's first airplane passenger |
| Charles Lindbergh | first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean |
| Chuck Yeager | American test pilot and first man to break the sound barrier |
Athletes
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles Barkley | former NBA forward and a current NBA color commentator for TNT |
| Chuck Bednarik | hof NFL player, 1967, Philadelphia Eagles |
| Charles Daniels (swimmer) (1885–1973) | American freestyle swimmer |
| Charlie Fleming | Scottish footballer |
| Charles "Buckets" Goldenberg | American All-Pro football player |
| Charles Green (disambiguation) | multiple people |
| Chuck Hayes | American basketball player who currently plays for the Houston Rockets |
| Charles Landon | English cricketeer |
| Charles Lefrançois | Canadian high jumper |
| Charles Madrid "Dr. Charles" | one of the founding fathers of sport compact racing |
| Charlie McCarthy (hurler) | Irish hurler |
| Charles Myer | American major league baseball All Star second baseman |
| Charles Oakley | American basketball forward |
| Charles Radbourn | early Major League Baseball pitcher |
| Charlie Reiter | American professional soccer player |
| Charles Fernando Basílio da Silva | Brazilian midfielder |
| Charles Sifford | first African American golfer to play in a PGA tour |
| Charles van Commenee | Dutch athletics coach |
In crime and law enforcement
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles Arthur, pseudonym of Pretty Boy Floyd | American bank robber |
| Charles Gibbs | 19th Century pirate |
| Charles Langford | American attorney |
| Charles Manson | American cult leader, convicted murder conspirator |
| Charles Moose | American law enforcement official and author |
| Charles Ponzi | Italian-American con-man, gave name to Ponzi scheme |
| Charley Ross | first American victim of kidnapping for ransom |
| Charles Sobhraj | Indian serial killer |
| Charles "Tex" Watson | member of Charles Manson's "family" |
In politics
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles "Bubba" Chaney | Louisiana politician |
| Charles Francis Adams, Sr. | American congressman and ambassador, grandson of John Adams |
| Charles Edward Bennett | Democratic U.S. Congressman from Florida |
| Charles Bent | first Governor of New Mexico Territory, assassinated in 1847 |
| Charles Joseph Bonaparte | former U. S. Attorney General |
| Charles Bradlaugh | British political activist and militant atheist, founder of the National Secular Society |
| Charles Carroll of Carrollton | last living signer of the Declaration of Independence (died 1832) |
| Charles Colson | U.S. President Nixon's Chief Counsel, involved in the Watergate scandal |
| Charles Magill Conrad | former American Secretary of War |
| Charles Curtis | 31st American Vice President, under Herbert Hoover |
| Charles G. Dawes | 30th American Vice President, under Calvin Coolidge |
| Charles Greg Davis (Mississippi politician) | Mayor of Southaven, Mississippi, better known as Greg Davis |
| Charles Devens | former U.S. Attorney General |
| Charles de Gaulle | French military leader and statesman |
| James Charles Evers | civil rights figure, older brother of Medgar Evers |
| Charles W. Fairbanks | 26th American Vice President, under Theodore Roosevelt |
| Charles A. Ford | American diplomat |
| Charles Gibbs (Alberta politician) | Canadian politician |
| Charles Harper (Mayor) | Australian politician |
| Charles Evans Hughes | former U.S. Secretary of State |
| Charles Humphreys | Pennsylvania delegate to Continental Congress; refused to sign Declaration of Independence due to his Quaker beliefs |
| Chuck Larson | current (2008) U.S. ambassador to Latvia |
| Charles Lee (Attorney General) | former U. S. Attorney General |
| Charles Mathias (1922–2010) | American politician |
| Karolos Papoulias | President of the Hellenic Republic (Greece) |
| Charles Stewart Parnell | Irish political leader |
| Charles Pearson | former Solicitor for The City of London and early railway advocate |
| Charles Alan Pownall | 3rd military Governor of Guam |
| Chuck Robb | former Governor of Virginia & U.S. Senator |
| Charlie Rose (congressman) | American congressman (Democrat from N.C.) |
| Charles Scott (governor of Kentucky) | also George Washington's Chief of Intelligence during the American Revolution |
| Charles Harding Smith | Irish politician |
| Charles G. Taylor | former president of Liberia |
| Charles Thomson | secretary of the Continental Congress |
| Charles Wilson (Texas politician) | Texas congressman, subject of 2007 movie Charlie Wilson's War |
In religion
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Saint Charles Borromeo | saint and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church |
| Charles Grandison Finney | American evangelist, major leader of the Second Great Awakening in America |
| Charles W. Penrose (1832–1925) | leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| Charles Haddon Spurgeon | Reformed Baptist preacher |
| Charles Wesley | co-founder of the Methodist Church |
Royalty
Austrian royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen | son of Leopold II |
| Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor | Holy Roman Emperor from 1711 to 1740 and the second son of Leopold I with his third wife |
| Charles I of Austria | Emperor of Austria |
Bohemian royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor | King of Bohemia and King of the Romans |
British royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles I of England | King of England, Scotland, and Ireland |
| Charles II of England | King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland |
| Charles Edward Stuart | exiled claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland |
| Charles, Prince of Wales | eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh |
French royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus) | first Holy Roman Emperor, son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon |
| Charles the Bald | youngest son of Emperor Louis the Pious |
| Charles the Fat | son of Louis the German |
| Charles the Simple | member of the Carolingian dynasty who ruled as King of France |
| Charles IV of France | member of the Capetian Dynasty |
| Charles V of France | king of France from 1364 to 1380 and a member of the Valois Dynasty |
| Charles VI of France | member of the Valois Dynasty |
| Charles VII of France | king of France from 1422 to 1461 |
| Charles VIII of France | King of France from 1483 to his death |
| Charles IX of France | son of King Henri II of France and Catherine de Medici |
| Charles X of France | grandson of Louis XV and his Polish queen |
| Charles Joseph Bonaparte | grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte |
| Napoleon III of France (Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte} | President of France from 1849 to 1852 |
| Charles I of Sicily | |
| Charles, duc d'Orléans | Duke of Valois, Count of Beaumont and of Blois, lord of Coucy, and the inheritor of Asti in Italy via his mother Valentina Visconti |
| Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine | son of Leopold Joseph |
German royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor | Holy Roman Emperor, King of Aragon, Castile, Naples, and Sicily, and ruler of the Burgundian territories |
| Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor | member of the Wittelsbach family |
Hungarian royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles I of Hungary | grandson of King Charles II of Naples |
| Charles III of Naples | son of Louis of Durazzo and Margherita of Sanseverino |
Italian royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles I of Savoy | Duke of Savoy from 1482 to 1490 and titular king of Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Armenia from 1485 to 1490 |
| Charles II of Savoy | Duke of Savoy from 1490 to 1496 |
| Charles III, Duke of Savoy | Duke of Savoy from 1504 to 1553 |
| Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy | Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630 |
| Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy | Duke of Savoy from 1638 to 1675 |
| Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia | Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 to 1773 |
| Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia | King of Sardinia from 1796 to 1802 |
| Charles Felix of Sardinia | Duke of Savoy, Piedmont, Aosta and King of Sardinia from 1821 to 1831 |
| Charles Albert of Sardinia | Duke of Savoy, Piedmont, Aosta and King of Sardinia from 1831 to 1849 |
| Charles I of Sicily | posthumous son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile |
| Charles II of Naples | son of Charles I of Naples |
Monaco royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles I of Monaco | first true Lord of Monaco |
| Charles II Lord of Monaco | |
| Charles III, Prince of Monaco | founder of the casino in Monte Carlo |
Portuguese royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles I of Portugal | second to last King of Portugal and Algarves from 1889 to 1908 |
| Infante Carlos (1716–1730) | 2nd son of King John V |
Romanian royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles I of Romania | first ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty |
| Charles II of Romania | eldest son of Ferdinand I |
Spanish royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles II of Navarre | one of the nobles involved in the repression of the Jacquerie |
| Charles III of Navarre | Navarrese monarch |
| Charles I of Spain | King of Aragon, King of Castile, King of Naples and Sicily, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, and was also Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V) |
| Charles II of Spain | only surviving son of his Habsburg predecessor, King Philip IV of Spain and his second Queen |
| Charles III of Spain | first son of the second marriage of Philip V with Elizabeth Farnese of Parma |
| Charles IV of Spain | King of Spain from December 14, 1788 until his abdication on March 19, 1808 |
| Juan Carlos I of Spain | reigning King of Spain |
Swedish royalty
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Charles VII of Sweden | King of Sweden and Earl of Götaland from circa 1161 to 1167 |
| Charles VIII of Sweden | King of Sweden |
| Charles IX of Sweden | King of Sweden, the youngest son of Gustav Vasa and Margareta Leijonhufvud |
| Charles X Gustav of Sweden | the second Wittelsbach King of Sweden after Christopher of Bavaria |
| Charles XI of Sweden | King of Sweden, the only son of Charles X of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp |
| Charles XII of Sweden | fourth King of the Wittelsbach dynasty in Sweden |
| Charles XIII of Sweden | King of Sweden, the second son of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia |
| Charles XIV John of Sweden | King of Sweden and Norway. Former Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France |
| Charles XV of Sweden | King of Sweden, the eldest son of King Oscar I and Josephine of Leuchtenberg |
| Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden | Charles XVI Gustaf of Sweden, King of Sweden |
In other royalty
- Prince Charles of Belgium, second son of King Albert I of Belgium and Queen Elizabeth
In other nobility
- Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, English military commander and colonial governor
- Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French nobleman and military leader
- Charles, Duke of Brittany, son of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon
- Charles I, Duke of Burgundy, son of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy and Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy
- Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis
- Charles II, Duke of Bourbon, clergyman, Cardinal and Archbishop of Lyon
- Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne
- Charles II, Duke of Lorraine, duke of Lorraine from 1390 to his death and constable of France from 1418 to 1425
- Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, eldest surviving son of Francis I, Duke of Lorraine and Christina of Denmark
- Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, European nobility
- Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, French political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment
- Charles, Count Léon, illegitimate son of Emperor Napoleon I of France and Catherine Eléonore Denuelle de la Plaigne
- Charles Martel, mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks
Scientists
- Charles Babbage, English mathematician, philosopher, mechanical engineer and computer scientist
- Charles L. Bennett, American astrophysicist
- Charles Thomas Bolton, astronomer who proved the existence of black holes
- Charles Darwin, British naturalist
- Charles Dawson, English archaeologist, involved in the Piltdown Man hoax
- Charles Fleming (ornithologist), New Zealand ornithologist
- Charles Thomas Jackson, American geologist
- Charles T. Kowal, American astronomer, discoverer of Chiron and 2 moons of Jupiter
- Charles Lyell, Scottish scientist, founder of modern geology
- Othniel Charles Marsh, American paleontologist
- Charles Wright Mills, American sociologist
- Edward Charles Pickering, American astronomer
- Charles Hazelius Sternberg, American fossil collector, involved in the Bone Wars
- Charles Mortram Sternberg, son of above, also a fossil collector and paleontologist
- Charles Tilly, American sociologist
- Charles Doolittle Walcott, American paleontologist and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
- Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist
Other people
- Charles McLean Andrews, American historian and professor
- Charles James Denton, British entrepreneur and philanthropist
- Charles DeRudio, Italian-American soldier of fortune, survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn
- Charles Harding Firth, British historian
- Charles Floyd (explorer), sole casualty of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
- Charles Keating, American financier, instigator of the "Keating 5" scandal
- "Lonesome" Charley Reynolds, U.S. Western scout
- Charlie Smith (centenarian) (died 1979), claimed to be the oldest person in the United States
- Charles M. Schwab, founder of Bethlehem Steel
- Charles R. Schwab, stock-broker and founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation
- Charles Upham, most-decorated Commonwealth serviceman of World War Two
- Charles Varnum, U.S. Army, survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn
- Charles Webb (architect), Australian architect
- Charles Winters, American jailed for smuggling B-17 bombers to Israel
Other uses of the name
- "Charles (short story)", a popular short story by Shirley Jackson
- Charley horse, a biophysical condition
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome, a pejorative term from the Happy Days series
See also
- Carl (name)
- Charley (disambiguation)
- Charlie (disambiguation)
- Charly (disambiguation)
- Chuck (disambiguation)
- Charleston (disambiguation)
- Charlestown (disambiguation)
- Charles Adams (disambiguation)
- Charles Anderson (disambiguation)
- Charles Andrews (disambiguation)
- Charles Bennett (disambiguation)
- Charles Best (disambiguation)
- Charles Black (disambiguation)
- Charles Brown (disambiguation)
- Charles Clark (disambiguation)
- Charles Conrad (disambiguation)
- Charles Davis (disambiguation)
- Charles Floyd (disambiguation)
- Charles Gibson (disambiguation)
- Charles Gough (disambiguation)
- Charles Harper (disambiguation)
- Charles Jones (disambiguation)
- Charles Keating (disambiguation)
- Charles Knapp (disambiguation)
- Charles Larson (disambiguation)
- Charles Logan (disambiguation)
- Charles Lyell (disambiguation)
- Charles Miller (disambiguation)
- Charles Nelson (disambiguation)
- Charles Ogle (disambiguation)
- Charles Parker (disambiguation)
- Charles Roberts (disambiguation)
- Charles Robertson (disambiguation)
- Charles Robinson (disambiguation)
- Charles Schwab (disambiguation)
- Charles Scott (disambiguation)
- Charles Smith (disambiguation)
- Charles Stewart (disambiguation)
- Charles Taylor (disambiguation)
- Charles Thomson (disambiguation)
- Charles Watson (disambiguation)
- Charles White (disambiguation)
- Charles Wilson (disambiguation)
- Saint Charles (disambiguation)
References
- ^ T. F. Hoad, English Etymology, Oxford University Press, 1993 (ISBN 0-19-283098-8). p. 76.
 |
This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. |
