Cherel
A feminine French name derived from the surname Cherel referring to the cherry tree.
Name Census estimates that about 14 living Americans carry the first name Cherel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherel today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherel births was 1953 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherel. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Cherel is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cherels were born before 1964.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cherel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
14
~ 1 in 24,482,453 Americans
Peak year
1953
6 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1965 SSA rank
#6,669
Tracked since 1946
Census
Cherel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 114 people with the first name Cherel, which placed it at #51,355 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
#51,355
National first-name rank
People counted
114
114 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherel is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.0%). 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 Cherel 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 Cherel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.8% · 67
- Black or African American28.9% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.0% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 3
- Two or more races1.8% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
Popularity
Cherel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherel from the 1940s through to the 1960s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Cherel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cherel 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 Cherel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherel
The given name Cherel has its origins in the Old French language, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to derive from the French word "cherir," which means "to cherish" or "to hold dear." This name was particularly popular in certain regions of France during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Cherel is closely related to the French name Cherie, which also stems from the same root word "cherir." However, Cherel is considered a more masculine form of the name, while Cherie is predominantly feminine.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cherel can be found in the medieval French romance "Le Chevalier de la Charrette" (The Knight of the Cart), written by Chrétien de Troyes in the late 12th century. In this work, a minor character bears the name Cherel.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who carried the name Cherel. One such person was Cherel de Boismont (1806-1873), a French psychiatrist and writer who made significant contributions to the field of mental health. Another notable figure was Cherel de Vieuxpont (1635-1712), a French military commander and nobleman who served under Louis XIV.
In the realm of literature, Cherel de La Rochette (1765-1840) was a French poet and playwright who gained recognition for his works during the early 19th century. Additionally, Cherel de Montlevault (1887-1961) was a French architect known for designing several iconic buildings in Paris.
Moving forward in time, Cherel Willaire (1933-2018) was a prominent French artist and sculptor, renowned for her abstract and minimalist works. Her sculptures can be found in various public spaces and museums across France.
While the name Cherel may have originated from Old French roots, it has transcended linguistic and cultural boundaries, appearing in various forms and spellings throughout different regions and time periods. However, its underlying meaning of cherishing and holding dear has remained constant, making it a distinctive and meaningful name choice.
People
Cherel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherel 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
Cherel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherel 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 24,482,453 US residents.
Is Cherel a common name?
We classify Cherel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 34% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherel most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherel was 1953, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherel is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 114 people with the name Cherel, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,355 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 Cherel 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 Cherel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherel leans strongly female. 108 people counted with this name were female (96.4%), compared with 4 male bearers (3.6%). 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 Cherel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherel is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.0%). 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 Cherel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cherel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.8% (67 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 Cherel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherel 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 Cherel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherel 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 Cherel 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 common is the name Cherel?
See how many people share the name Cherel on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.