Sherman
Feminine · “one who shears cloth”
Sherman is given to boys far more often — 39,190 boys against 203 girls since 1880. See Sherman as a boy name
Sherman entered the US charts in 1916, peaked at #3156 in 1935, is rarely given in 2025 — given to only a few children a year.
How old is the name Sherman?
Sherman first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Sherman alive today was born around 1955, making them about 70 years old. About 100 people named Sherman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sherman most popular?
Sherman peaked in 1935, reaching #3156 nationally. See the whole 1935 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From scearra to Sherman
The story of Sherman
The surname came to America early and in quantity with English settlers, and it produced a Union general whose march through Georgia is still argued about, and a senator whose name sits on the antitrust act that bears it. Boys were given the name through the second half of the nineteenth century in the way American families have always taken the surnames of public men. The tank named after the general kept the word in circulation through another war entirely.
Meaning
one who shears cloth
From Old English scearra, 'shears', and mann. The shearman was a skilled finisher in the medieval wool trade, and the surname is common wherever English cloth was made.
How the name formed
- scearra
- Shearman
- Sherman
Pronouncing Sherman
SHUR-muhn
Two syllables, stress on the first. The second is unstressed, closer to -muhn than to -man.
Nicknames for Sherman
Limited
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
- 1916
- Most girls named
- 195911 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3156reached in 1935
- Change vs 1986
- −28.6%5 in 1987, from 7
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.
Shermans among us
people named Sherman 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
Sherman 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
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What they receive
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Sherman
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Shermans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Sherman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sherman in 2025?
- Sherman is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Sherman with classmates?
- Sherman will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sherman? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sherman and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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