Carletha is of African American origin, derived from the combination of "Carl" and "Leitha". It was created by author J.D. Jackson for his character Carletha Edwards in his novel "The Evening Sun". The name has gained popularity since its introduction in literature, particularly within African American communities.
Based on the provided statistics, Carletha appears to have been a relatively uncommon name for newborns throughout much of the period covered, with only occasional spikes in popularity. The name's most popular years were from 1962 to 1971, with peaks of 20 births in 1962 and 18 births in 1971. However, even during these peak years, Carletha was still not a highly common name, as it never reached the level of popularity seen by many other names during this time period. Overall, there were a total of 488 babies named Carletha between 1928 and 1999.