Charlie

Charlie is a name that started life as a nickname. English speakers softened Charles into Charlie much as they turned William into Billy, and over time the short form came to be registered as a given name in its own right. Charles itself is the English and French version of Latin Carolus, borrowed from the Germanic Karl. The references differ on what Karl first meant: Behind the Name gives 'man' as the usual reading and notes a less common theory linking it to 'army', while Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Germanic karilaz, 'free man', a relative of the old English word churl.

Charles spread across Europe with Charlemagne, and in Britain it caught on in the seventeenth century under the Stuart kings. Charlie followed in its wake. Later it was also taken up as a pet form of Charlotte and Charlene, which is why it is now given to both boys and girls; Wiktionary notes that the masculine use is still the more common one in English. The name is also the word for the letter C in the NATO spelling alphabet.

In British English it is said CHAR-lee, with a long 'ah' in the first syllable, while in French-speaking countries the stress moves to the end. Charley, Charli and Charly are all used as alternative spellings. Because Charlie is light and informal, a fuller middle name gives it balance: Charlie Elizabeth, Charlie Alexander or Charlie James. For siblings, Alfie, Billie, Frankie or Sam keep the same friendly feel.