First name content excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to 30,000 Baby Names © 2005 by Marcia Layton Turner. Buy this book online or call 1-800-253-6476.
Last name content copyright © 2006 Patrick Hanks.
Name origin: English
Name meaning: patronymic (with intrusive -t-) from the personal name Charles. The various places called Charleston are all of recent origin, so they are unlikely to be the source of the surname.