Cheresa
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially derived from a Slavic root meaning "fiery" or "cherry-red".
Name Census estimates that about 100 living Americans carry the first name Cheresa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cheresa today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheresa births was 1980 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheresa. 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.
People living today
100
~ 1 in 3,427,543 Americans
Peak year
1980
11 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1990 SSA rank
#13,372
Tracked since 1969
Census
Cheresa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 152 people with the first name Cheresa, which placed it at #44,992 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
#44,992
National first-name rank
People counted
152
152 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
44.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cheresa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheresa is Black at 44.7%. The next largest groups are White (38.8%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). 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 Cheresa 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 Cheresa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American44.7% · 68
- White38.8% · 59
- Two or more races7.2% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 5
Popularity
Cheresa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheresa from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 57 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cheresa 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 Cheresa 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 Cheresa
The given name Cheresa has its roots in ancient Greek culture, dating back to the 5th century BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Greek word "charisma," which means "favor" or "grace." The name was popularized during the classical period of ancient Greece, when it was often given to girls as a symbol of beauty and charm.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cheresa can be found in the writings of the Greek philosopher Plato, who mentioned a woman by that name in his dialogue "Symposium." This suggests that the name was in use among the intellectual and aristocratic circles of ancient Athens.
In the early Christian era, the name Cheresa gained popularity among Greek-speaking communities in the Mediterranean region. It is believed that some early Christian martyrs and saints may have borne this name, though historical records are scarce.
During the Byzantine period, the name Cheresa was widely used among the Greek nobility and aristocracy. One notable figure from this era was Cheresa of Byzantium, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in the 10th century CE. She was celebrated for her intellectual prowess and her contributions to the literary and cultural life of the Byzantine Empire.
As the Greek diaspora spread throughout the Mediterranean and beyond, the name Cheresa traveled with them. In the 15th century, a notable Italian Renaissance figure named Cheresa Borgia, a member of the powerful Borgia family, gained fame for her beauty and her involvement in the political intrigues of the time.
Another notable figure who bore the name Cheresa was Cheresa de la Cruz, a 16th-century Spanish mystic and religious writer. She was known for her spiritual visions and her influential writings on mystical theology.
In more recent times, the name Cheresa has been less common, though it has remained in use in certain regions with strong Greek cultural influences. One notable modern bearer of the name was Cheresa Kazantzakis, a 20th-century Greek author and activist who was a prominent figure in the feminist movement in Greece.
Overall, the name Cheresa has a rich and storied history, with roots that stretch back to the ancient Greek world. While its popularity has waxed and waned over the centuries, it has remained a symbol of grace, beauty, and intellectual prowess for those who have borne this name throughout history.
People
Cheresa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheresa 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
Cheresa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheresa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 100 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheresa 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 3,427,543 US residents.
Is Cheresa a common name?
We classify Cheresa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 108 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheresa most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheresa was 1980, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheresa is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cheresa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 152 people with the name Cheresa, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,992 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 Cheresa 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 Cheresa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cheresa appears almost entirely female. Of the 153 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Cheresa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheresa is Black at 44.7%. The next largest groups are White (38.8%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). 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 Cheresa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cheresa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.7% (68 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 Cheresa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cheresa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cheresa 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 Cheresa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cheresa 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 Cheresa 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 are named Cheresa?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Cheresa at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.