Sherrill
Feminine
Sherrill is given to both — 6,932 girls and 1,915 boys since 1880. See Sherrill as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Sherrill is two things arriving at one spelling. It is an English surname of long standing, and it is also Cheryl or Sheryl with an -ill ending attached — a respelling of a name that itself appeared in English without any traceable parent. The doubled l is what makes the written name look like a family one.
How old is the name Sherrill?
Sherrill first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Sherrill alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 5,000 people named Sherrill are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sherrill most popular?
Sherrill peaked in 1944, reaching #448 nationally. See the whole 1944 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Sherrill
American naming turns surnames into first names constantly, and a surname ending in a doubled consonant reads as particularly established — Merrill, Terrell, Darrell, Sherrill. At the same time the Cheryl family was generating Sheryl, Sherilyn and Sherry, and Sherrill sits close enough to both groups to belong to either. What is unusual is that both possible sources are undocumented: this is a name where the surname route and the given-name route each end in a question, which is rarer than it sounds.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The surname Sherrill is generally traced to an English place or to a personal name, and its own derivation is not agreed. The other road runs through Cheryl, which is one of the few widely used English names with no recovered origin at all — it appears in the twentieth century and spreads, with proposals connecting it to Cherie and Charlotte that have no evidence behind them. Two roads, two blanks, and no way to choose.
Pronouncing Sherrill
SHAIR-ul
SHAIR-ul, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. Some say shuh-RILL with the weight at the back, following the surname pattern, and both are in use — this is the main thing about the name that has to be established out loud.
Nicknames for Sherrill
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
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 1947284 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #448reached in 1944
- Change vs 1994
- −20.0%8 in 1997, from 10
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.
Sherrills among us
people named Sherrill 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
Sherrill 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 reads as a surname, which gives it a settled formality most short first names lack.
- Sherri works as a short form and is a standing name of its own.
- It goes to either child, as surname-style names generally do.
- The stress falls at either end depending on the reader, so the name is said two ways.
- Cheryl, Sheryl and Sherrill are all close, and the name gets written as each in turn.
- Neither possible origin has a documented meaning, so none is available to hand over.
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Sherrill
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Sherrills are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,000 people named Sherrill are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sherrill in 2025?
- Sherrill is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Sherrill with classmates?
- Sherrill 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 Sherrill? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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