Marie Charles

(female) (French) form of Maria. When first introduced to England in the Middle Ages, it was Anglicized in pronunciation and respelled Mary. This French form was reintroduced into the English-speaking world as a separate name in the 19th century, and is still pronounced more or less in the French manner, although sometimes with the stress on the first syllable. It is now often used in combination with other names such as Ellie, Chloe, and Lisa.

French, Welsh, and English: from the French form of the Germanic personal name Carl ‘man’ (which was Latinized as Carolus). In France the personal name was popular from an early date, due to the fame of the Emperor Charlemagne (?742–814; Latin name Carolus Magnus, i.e. Charles the Great). The Old French form Charles was briefly introduced to England by the Normans, but was rare during the main period of surname formation. It was introduced more successfully to Scotland in the 16th century by the Stuarts, who had strong ties with France, and was brought by them to England in the 17th century. Its frequency as a Welsh surname is attributable to the late date of Welsh surname formation. Old English Ceorl ‘peasant’ is also found as a byname, but the resulting Middle English form, Charl, with a patronymic in -s, if it existed at all, would have been absorbed by the French form introduced by the Normans. Compare Carl. English variants pronounced with initial k- for the most part reflect the cognate Old Norse personal name Karl, Karli.