Charles

The name derives from the Germanic root karl, simply meaning man. It spread across Europe following the eighth-century reign of Charlemagne and entered English use after the Norman Conquest. English colonists carried it to North America, where it established a continuous presence centuries before federal record-keeping began.

The name reads as someone who keeps a hard-shell eyeglass case in a coat pocket. With an estimated average age of fifty-five, a Charles is far more likely to recall rotary phones than tablet screens. Thirty-seven percent of living bearers belong to the baby boom generation, anchoring the sound firmly in the postwar decades. The name has drifted down to forty-eighth place in recent tallies, though it remains far too entrenched to disappear. At present, it sounds like a person who reads the entire warranty card before plugging in a toaster.