Sherman
Masculine · “one who shears cloth”
Sherman is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 39,190 boys against 203 girls since 1880.
Sherman is an occupational surname from the English cloth trade: the man who sheared the nap off woven wool to finish it. It is a trade that has not existed for centuries and a name that outlived it comfortably.
How old is the name Sherman?
Sherman was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Sherman alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 19,000 people named Sherman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sherman most popular?
Sherman peaked in 1894, reaching #153 nationally. Today it ranks #5045, 4,892 places below that high. See the whole 1894 chart.
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1951634 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #153reached in 1894
- Change vs 2022
- −40.6%19 in 2025, from 32
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.
Sherman in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Louisiana.
Shermans among us
people named Sherman are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 89,899 born in 2025 was named Sherman
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Sherman 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
Sherman beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sherman in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented medieval trade behind it, which makes the meaning concrete rather than decorative.
- Sherm is a short form that already exists and needs no inventing.
- One spelling, one pronunciation, no ambiguity.
- The Civil War general is a divisive figure, especially in the American South, and the name carries him.
- It reads clearly as a surname, so it invites the question of whether it is a family name being honored.
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Sherman
Masculine · #5045 in the U.S.
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 19,000 people named Sherman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sherman in 2025?
- Sherman ranks #5045 among US boy names in 2025, with 19 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sherman?
- About 1 in every 89,899 US boys born in 2025 was named Sherman — 19 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sherman with classmates?
- Sherman will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sherman
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Silver#5045 · Daymon#5045 · Thierry#5045 · Mehmet#5045 · Tyrel#5045 · Teague#5045 · Zeyad#5045 · Gardner#5045
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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