Sheridan
Feminine · “Descendant of Sirideán”
Sheridan is given to both — 5,604 girls and 2,768 boys since 1880. See Sheridan as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Sheridan is an Irish surname carried into English literature by a playwright and into American naming by the general fashion for surnames. Its girls' peak is 2001, which puts it with Reagan, Kennedy and Sullivan rather than with anything Irish.
How old is the name Sheridan?
Sheridan first appears in US birth records in 1928 — 97 years ago. The typical Sheridan alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 5,200 people named Sheridan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sheridan most popular?
Sheridan peaked in 2001, reaching #778 nationally. Today it ranks #5238, 4,460 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Ó Sirideáin to Sheridan
The story of Sheridan
The Ó Sirideáin were a Longford family, hereditary keepers of the bell of Saint Manchán. The surname's literary weight comes from Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the Dublin-born playwright of The Rivals and The School for Scandal and afterwards a Whig member of parliament, and from his descendants. In America the Civil War general Philip Sheridan made it a household surname. Its use as a girls' given name belongs to the surname-name movement of the 1990s and 2000s, and the peak in 2001 sits inside it; the boys' use is older and smaller.
Meaningscholars disagree
Descendant of Sirideán
From Irish Ó Sirideáin, a surname of County Longford and Cavan. The personal name Sirideán behind it has no settled meaning; a connection to sirriud, a search or a seeking, is proposed and not established. The common gloss wild man is not supported by any Irish source. The surname itself is well documented; what it meant originally is not.
How the name formed
- Ó Sirideáin
- Sheridan
Related forms: Ó Sirideáin
Pronouncing Sheridan
SHAIR-i-dun
Three syllables, stress on the first. Some American speakers say SHER-i-dan with a fuller final vowel; the Irish original is closer to shi-ri-DAWN.
Nicknames for Sheridan
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
- 1928
- Most girls named
- 2001305 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #778reached in 2001
- Change vs 2023
- −4.0%24 in 2025, from 25
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.
Sheridan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ó Sirideáin in Irish — related form
Sheridans among us
people named Sheridan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 66,969 born in 2025 was named Sheridan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Charissa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sheridan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Charissa climbed just as high around 1980, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Charissa's path sketches the road Sheridan is walking now.
Sheridan sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Sheridan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sheridan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Sheri and Danni are both ready-made short forms.
- It has genuine literary and historical bearers.
- Everyone can say it on first sight.
- The meaning of the underlying Irish name is not established.
- It reads as a surname and as unisex.
- The Civil War general is a strong association for anyone who reads American history.
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What they receive
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Sheridan
Feminine · #5238 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sheridans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,200 people named Sheridan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sheridan in 2025?
- Sheridan ranks #5238 among US girl names in 2025, with 24 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sheridan?
- About 1 in every 66,969 US girls born in 2025 was named Sheridan — 24 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sheridan with classmates?
- Sheridan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sheridan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Irena#5238 · Esma#5238 · Dagny#5238 · Venice#5238 · Lisbeth#5238 · Loralie#5238 · Alania#5238 · Erma#5238
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sheridan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sheridan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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