Quick Poll: Charles or William?

Pick one: William or Charles, in a family where William would be called William or sometimes Will but not Liam, and Charles would be called almost exclusively Charlie. Poll over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results (333 votes total):
William: 206 votes, roughly 62%
Charles: 127 votes, roughly 38%

18 thoughts on “Quick Poll: Charles or William?

  1. Anonymous

    FYI – Charles would be called Charlie and William would be William (sometimes Will, never Liam.)
    Dying to hear your thoughts!
    – baby’s mama!

    Reply
  2. Anonymous

    William is a favourite of mine. I don’t mind Charles either. Both are family names for me, but the name Charles would have some negative associations with my family so I wouldn’t want to use it. I think Charlie is a sweet nickname though!

    Reply
  3. Caitlin

    Tough one. I like William better than Charles, but Charlie better than Will. I went with Charles because I like Charlie better than William.

    Reply
  4. Erin

    Ack! I can’t pick! My son’s name is Charles William. LOL We call him Charlie, and it’s perfect for him. William is a family name found all over my husband’s side of the family.

    Reply
  5. Lara Jane

    You can’t go wrong either way. They’re both strong, classic names with great nickname potential.

    Now, my personal bias is towards Charles. I fell in love with the name 12 years ago when I accompanied my niece on a field trip. There was this adorable, spunky little dude called Charlie who just won my heart.

    We decided we’d use the name for our second-born son, since Henry sort of sounded like the older, more responsible brother. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, so Charles Truman is up for grabs, y’all! :)

    Also, I’m hearing a lot more boys called William/Will/Liam. Maybe it’s slightly more used than Charles/Charlie/Chuck. But again, they are both names that will never go “out of style” simply because they’re so timeless.

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  6. Kayt

    Oooh, that’s hard! I actually named my son James, but my husband and I had it down to James and William. I liked William a bit more because it’s my grandfather’s name, but my husband told me that if we named him William, he would call him Billy. I hate the nicknames Billy, Bill, and Willie, but I adore Will and Liam. However, my last name can also be a verb, so Will Huff was out of the question!

    Charles sounds a bit blander than William to me. It’s nice, but I can’t really picture a single person who actually goes by Charles instead of Charlie or Chuck. I think Charlie is just about the cutest thing ever on a little boy, but sounds a bit weird on an adult. Chuck is fun and a bit funky on the right teen or adult, but can sound a bit rednecky. I’m a bit torn, because I want to like a given name and its nicknames, but I don’t like Charles much on its own.

    I think Charles and William both sound very distinguished, and I adore them both. However, Charles wins just a teeny bit over William mainly because it’s less popular right now. I think that you really can’t go wrong with either name.

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  7. Laurie

    I like them both, but I voted for Charles mainly because some may try to call William Liam and it may be a bit of a headache. Ultimately they are both great name choices.

    Reply
  8. Kristin

    I have to go with William, because that’s what we named our son. We call him Will or William. However, Charlie is also one of my favorite names. You can’t go wrong with either of them in my opinion.

    Reply
  9. Susie

    We had a Charlie in January, and I love love love the nickname. He is Charles but goes exclusively by Charlie. Everyone thinks it’s a great name (or at least they say they do).

    Reply

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