Cheryl
Masculine
Cheryl is given to girls far more often — 439,539 girls against 978 boys since 1880. See Cheryl as a girl name
Cheryl went from nothing to the top of the American charts and back inside a single lifetime, and nobody knows where it came from. It is the largest English name with no established origin at all — hundreds of thousands of women carry it, the first bearers were alive within living memory, and every reference work is reduced to guessing.
How old is the name Cheryl?
Cheryl first appears in US birth records in 1939 — 86 years ago. The typical Cheryl alive today was born around 1961, making them about 64 years old. About 800 people named Cheryl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cheryl most popular?
Cheryl peaked in 1958, reaching #994 nationally. See the whole 1958 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From the name appears in the American record around 1909 to Cheryl
The story of Cheryl
The curve is the remarkable thing. The name appears in the record in the first decade of the last century in tiny numbers, climbs steadily for fifty years, reaches the very top of the American charts in the 1950s, and then falls almost as steadily to nothing. That is the shape of a fashion rather than a tradition, and fashions normally have a source — a book, a film, a performer, a royal. This one has none that anybody has found, which after a century of looking is itself a fact worth recording.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The guesses are a blend of Cherie and Beryl, a form of Charlotte, a Welsh original, and a French borrowing. None has any documentary support. What can be observed is the spelling: the ch says sh, which is the French value of those letters and not the English one, so whoever made the name was thinking in French even if nothing else about it is French.
How the name formed
- the name appears in the American record around 1909
- climbs steadily for fifty years
- reaches the top of the charts in the 1950s
- falls away as steadily afterwards
- no source has ever been identified
Related forms: Sheryl · Sherill · Cherie
Pronouncing Cheryl
SHERR-ul
Two syllables, stress at the front. The ch says sh, following the French value, which is the one clue the spelling gives about where the name came from.
Nicknames for Cheryl
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1939
- Most boys named
- 195859 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #994reached in 1958
- Change vs 1987
- +40.0%7 in 1990, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Cheryl in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sheryl in English — spelling variant
- Sherill in English — spelling variant
- Cherie in French — related form
Cheryls among us
people named Cheryl are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Cheryl sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is entirely familiar and needs no explanation to anybody.
- Cher and Sherry are both available as short forms.
- The sound is soft throughout with no hard consonant in it.
- There are at least nine spellings in circulation and she will be given several.
- It is one of the most precisely dated names of the last century.
- There is no meaning to give her, and no reference work can supply one.
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Cheryl
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Cheryls are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Cheryl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cheryl in 2025?
- Cheryl is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Cheryl with classmates?
- Cheryl will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Charles#48 · Christopher#68 · Carl#1132 · Christian#96 · Caleb#58 · Cameron#76 · Carlos#150 · Clarence#1499
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cheryl? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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