Cher
A French feminine name derived from 'chère' meaning 'beloved' or 'dear one'.
Name Census estimates that about 1,608 living Americans carry the first name Cher. It is a predominantly female name (94.0% of registrations). The average person named Cher today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cher births was 1972 (235 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cher. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Cher with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 213,156 Americans
Peak year
1972
235 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1996 SSA rank
#5,241
Tracked since 1948
Census
Cher in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,596 people with the first name Cher, which placed it at #6,225 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,225
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,596 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cher
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cher is White at 49.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (29.3%) and Black (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cher described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cher at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.6% · 1,288
- Asian and Pacific Islander29.3% · 760
- Black or African American11.1% · 287
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 121
- Two or more races4.2% · 109
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 31
Gender
Gender distribution for Cher
Cher leans heavily female at 94.0% of total registrations, but 110 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cher as a male name
- Ranked #5,241 in 1996
- 11 male births in 1996
- Peak: 1991 (16 births)
Cher as a female name
- Ranked #13,792 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1972 (235 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cher leans strongly female. 2,104 people counted with this name were female (80.8%), compared with 499 male bearers (19.2%).
Popularity
Cher: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cher from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 964 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cher by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cher during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Cher, while Missouri, Iowa, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cher
The name Cher has its origins in the French language, where it is a shortened form of the feminine name Chère, meaning "dear" or "beloved." This name can be traced back to the Old French chiere, derived from the Latin cara, meaning "precious" or "valued."
In the Middle Ages, the name Chère was commonly used as a term of endearment, particularly in French literature and poetry. It was a popular name among the French nobility and upper classes during this period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cher can be found in the 12th-century French epic poem "The Song of Roland," where it is mentioned as a term of affection. The name also appears in various medieval French texts and manuscripts.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Cher. One of the earliest was Cher Ami, a famous homing pigeon during World War I, who received the Croix de Guerre medal for her bravery in delivering a crucial message despite being shot and injured.
In the realm of literature, Cher Herta Victor was a French author and playwright who lived from 1897 to 1967. Her works, including the play "Le Renard et les Raisins" (The Fox and the Grapes), were widely acclaimed.
Another notable figure was Cher Bono, the American singer, actress, and TV personality, born in 1946. She rose to fame as part of the duo Sonny & Cher and later enjoyed a successful solo career, winning numerous awards and becoming a cultural icon.
In the world of fashion, Cher Horowitz was the name of the protagonist in the 1995 film "Clueless," played by Alicia Silverstone. The character's name became synonymous with a particular style and attitude, influencing fashion trends of the time.
Additionally, Cher Thornton was a British singer and songwriter, born in 1959, who achieved success in the 1980s with hits like "Shake the Bamboo" and "Walking on the Broken Glass."
The name Cher, with its French roots and connotations of affection, has been embraced across various cultures and eras, leaving an indelible mark on history through the accomplishments of those who bore it.
People
Cher + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cher as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cher: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cher?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,608 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cher going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 213,156 US residents.
Is Cher a common name?
We classify Cher as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,831 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cher most popular?
The single biggest year for Cher was 1972, when 235 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cher is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cher in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,596 people with the name Cher, or 0.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,225 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cher in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cher?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cher leans strongly female. 2,104 people counted with this name were female (80.8%), compared with 499 male bearers (19.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cher?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cher is White at 49.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (29.3%) and Black (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cher most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cher in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.6% (1,288 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cher in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cher a female name?
Yes, 94.0% of people registered as Cher in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cher still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cher in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cher can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Cher?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.