Explore the Family Name Charlson

The meaning of Charlson

1. Americanized form of Danish and Norwegian Carlsen or Karlsen and Swedish Carlsson or Karlsson. 2. English (Lancashire) and Scottish (Caithness): patronymic from the personal name Charles. The personal name was very rare in England and Scotland until the 16th century and even then uncommon, so the surname may be of late formation (15th–16th centuries).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Charlson in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Charlson's popularity has seen a decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Charlson ranked 23,283 in popularity with a count of 1,021 bearers. By 2010, it fell to rank 27,354 with only 883 individuals bearing the name, marking a decrease of 17.48% in rank and 13.52% in count. The proportion per 100k also decreased by over 21%, from 0.38 in 2000 to 0.3 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#23,283	#27,354	-17.48%
Count	1,021	883	-13.52%
Proportion per 100k	0.38	0.3	-21.05%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Charlson

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides insights into the ethnicity associated with the surname Charlson. Notably, the majority of those with the surname identify as White, although this percentage dropped slightly from 93.05% in 2000 to 91.73% in 2010. The proportion identifying as Black increased by nearly 23% during the same time period, while there was a rise of more than 92% in those identifying with two or more ethnicities. The number of Charlsons identifying as Hispanic decreased by 16.20%, and no individuals identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.05%	91.73%	-1.42%
Two or More Races	1.47%	2.83%	92.52%
Hispanic	2.84%	2.38%	-16.2%
Black	1.57%	1.93%	22.93%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%