Charlie: Boy name or girl name?

To some, Charlie is a boy name. It’s a nickname for the male name Charles.

To others, Charlie is a girl name. It’s a feminine form of Charles, just like Charlene and Charlotte are feminine forms of Charles.

How are parents actually using the name Charlie nowadays?

Well, if we look only at the spelling “Charlie,” the boys are on top. Of the 1,727 U.S. babies named Charlie last year, 1,242 (72%) were boys and 485 (28%) were girls.

But if we count all versions of the name, the girls take the lead:

Name# of Boys# of Girls
Charlie1,242485
Charlee7395
Charley90277
Charli17236
Charleigh0180
Charly5270
Charlea014
Charlye012
Charle05
Charlei05
Charliegh05
TOTAL1,408 (46%)1,684 (54%)

In England and Wales, where Charlie (ranked 7th) is so popular that it beats Charles (ranked 58th) by over 4,000 babies, Charlie is still mainly a boy name:

Name# of Boys# of Girls
Charlie5,409208
Charley102164
Charlee827
Charli426
Charleigh018
Charly712
Charlea03
TOTAL5,530 (92%)458 (8%)

This makes me think Charlie could be headed the way of Ashley (i.e. becoming feminine in the States, remaining masculine in the UK).

To you, is Charlie a girl name or a boy name? (Or is it a unisex name?) Please also mention where you live–it’ll be interesting to see if/how responses differ based on location.

Girl names that can be shortened to Izzy?

A friend of mine announced her pregnancy a few weeks ago (congrats, E!). She doesn’t know the gender of the baby yet, but if it’s a girl, she thinks she’d like to use the name Isabella.

The problem? Isabella has been one of the most popular baby names in the nation for almost a decade now. My friend is still prepared to use it, but she’s also wondering what else is out there.

What she likes most about Isabella is the nickname Izzy, so I thought I’d help her out by coming up other girl names that can be shortened to Izzy. Some of these may be a stretch, but this is a brainstorm so anything goes. :)

Isabel/Isabelle
Part of the same name-family, but not as popular as Isabella.

Isidora/Isadora
Isabella and Isidora aren’t related (the former is based on Elizabeth, the latter on Isis) but they sound like they could be.

Elizabeth or Lizette
Why not lop the L off Lizzy and make it Izzy?

Giselle
French name that can be traced back to a Germanic word meaning “pledge.” Popularized recently by model Gisele, but still outside the top 100.

Desiree (Désirée)
French name meaning “desired.”

Zipporah (Tzipora, Tzipporah, etc.)
Hebrew name meaning “bird.”

Cosima
Italian name derived from the ancient Greek word for “order.”

Louisa or Louise
Derived from Ludwig, made up of elements meaning “fame” and “war.”

Eloise (Éloïse) or Heloise (Héloïse)
Might come from the Germanic name Helewidis, made up of elements meaning “hale” and either “wide” or “wood.”

Therese (Thérèse)
Unknown etymology, though perhaps based on the name of a Greek island.

Aziza
Arabic name meaning “powerful.”

Aliza
Hebrew name meaning “joyful.”

Can you think of any other girl names that can be shortened to Izzy?

Where did the baby name Darth come from in 1977?

The characters Darth Vader and Princess Leia from the movie "Star Wars" (1977)
Darth Vader and Princess Leia from “Star Wars“

I’m sure you know that Star Wars — often considered to be one of the greatest science-fiction movies of all time — gave boosts to the baby names Luke and Leia (pronounced LAY-uh) back in the late ’70s:

Boys named LukeGirls named Leia
19792,471 (rank: 110th)118
19781,882 (rank: 139th)156 (rank: 911th)
19771,241 (rank: 190th)98
1976914 (rank: 223rd)21
1975779 (rank: 256th)20

But did you know that the movie also influenced a handful of expectant parents to name their babies Darth?

Yup — as in Darth Vader. As in the Jedi-gone-bad who was the main antagonist of the original Star Wars trilogy. (The character was physically portrayed by English bodybuilder David Prowse, but voiced by American actor James Earl Jones.)

The first Star Wars film was released in 1977, and that’s the year we start seeing babies named Darth in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1979: 7 baby boys named Darth
  • 1978: 13 baby boys named Darth
  • 1977: 9 baby boys named Darth [debut]
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: unlisted

But the Force wasn’t strong with this one. The name didn’t stay in the data long enough to see the release of the second film, The Empire Strikes Back, in 1980.

So where did the character name “Darth Vader” come from?

After discarding the early name “Dark Water,” George Lucas played around with various surnames (including Vader, Wilson, and Smith) for the “tall, grim-looking general.” He eventually settled upon the combination “Darth Vader” in 1972.

Interestingly, the German/Dutch surname Vader happens to mean “father” or “senior.” Perhaps this definition inspired Lucas to turn Darth Vader into Luke’s father — a plot twist that didn’t come along until in 1978, in the second draft of the script for The Empire Strikes Back.

Decades after the first Star Wars films came out, though, Lucas had this to say about the origin of Darth Vader’s name:

“Darth” is a variation of dark. And “Vader” is a variation of father. So it’s basically Dark Father.

It does seem like Darth was based on the word “dark,” but it’s hard to know if Lucas really took the definition of Vader into account back in the early 1970s, long before the character was anyone’s father.

What are your thoughts on the name Darth?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Star Wars

[Latest update: Feb. 2025]

Baby born to rugby fans, named John Kear

rugby legs

Back in May, John and Adele Layton of Wakefield, England, had a baby boy. They’re big fans of the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats rugby team, so they decided to name the baby John Kear after the Wildcats’ head coach, John Kear. (They also have an older daughter named Trinity.)

This was Coach Kear’s reaction:

It’s very flattering, and a great compliment that they feel I’ve made an impression here. Hopefully little John Kear will will bring us luck on Sunday. If we win we’ll dedicate it to him.

And here’s a quote from dad:

It would be fantastic to see him playing for Trinity one day. He’s certainly going to be pushed that way!

Well, at least he’s honest about it. :)

[Like sporty namesakes? I’ve also blogged about babies named after basketball players, football players, boxers, snowboarders, football coaches, football teams, baseball fields, soccer fields and soccer stadiums.]

Source: Baby named after coach

Image: Adapted from Rugby socks by Steven Lilley under CC BY-SA 2.0.