Charlene
/ʃɑɹˈlin/
"charlene" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Charlene” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #31,103 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #31,103
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female given name from the Germanic languages; most used in the U.S. in the 1940s.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Charlene |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ʃɑɹˈlin/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #31,103 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Charlene” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Charlene is 8 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃɑɹˈlin/. Corpus data places it at rank #31,103 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A female given name from the Germanic languages; most used in the U.S. in the 1940s.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for Charlene, with forms such as "cahrlene", "ccharlene", and "chalrene". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Charles", "Charlie", "Charley", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: A feminine form of Charles coined in the nineteenth century. Compare Marlene, Helene and Magdalene for the suffix. The correct English form is Charlene, spelled C-H-A-R-L-E-N-E.
Definition
- 1A female given name from the Germanic languages; most used in the U.S. in the 1940s.
Etymology
A feminine form of Charles coined in the nineteenth century. Compare Marlene, Helene and Magdalene for the suffix.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cahrlene,ccharlene,chalrene,charelne,charleen,charlenne,charllene,charlnee,charrlene,chharlene,chralene,hcarlene
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Charlene - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Charlene"?
What does "Charlene" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Charlene"?
How do you pronounce "Charlene"?
What is the origin of the word "Charlene"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Charlene”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-A-R-L-E-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ʃɑɹˈlin/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Charles” - see the side-by-side comparison. Charlene vs Charles
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.