Cherith
A Biblical name meaning "to cut off or separate".
Name Census estimates that about 511 living Americans carry the first name Cherith. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherith today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherith births was 1980 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherith. 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 Cherith with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
511
~ 1 in 670,752 Americans
Peak year
1980
22 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,958
Tracked since 1946
Census
Cherith in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 567 people with the first name Cherith, which placed it at #18,871 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
#18,871
National first-name rank
People counted
567
567 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherith
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherith is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.5%). 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 Cherith 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 Cherith at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.7% · 435
- Black or African American8.3% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.5% · 31
- Two or more races5.1% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 9
Popularity
Cherith: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherith from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 153 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
Cherith 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 Cherith during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cheriths live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherith
The name Cherith has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew word "cherit" which means "cutting" or "gorge". The name is believed to have first appeared in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically in the Book of 1 Kings, where it refers to the Brook Cherith, a ravine where the prophet Elijah took refuge and was fed by ravens.
The earliest recorded use of Cherith as a given name can be traced back to the 19th century. One of the first known individuals to bear this name was Cherith Caldwell (1804-1881), an American educator and author from New York. She wrote several books on history and geography for children.
Another notable figure named Cherith was Cherith Brook (1865-1942), a British artist and illustrator known for her work in children's books. She illustrated books by famous authors such as J.M. Barrie and Rudyard Kipling.
In the 20th century, Cherith Baldry (1917-1977) was a British actress who appeared in various films and television shows. She was particularly known for her roles in several BBC productions.
Cherith Norman (born 1944) is an American author and playwright. She has written several novels and plays, including the award-winning play "Traveler in the Dark".
Cherith Valley (1920-2002) was a British author and poet. She wrote several collections of poetry and was also known for her children's books.
While not as common as some other names, Cherith has been used throughout various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its connection to the biblical story of Elijah and the Brook Cherith has likely contributed to its enduring use as a given name.
People
Cherith + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherith 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
Cherith: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherith?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 511 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherith 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 670,752 US residents.
Is Cherith a common name?
We classify Cherith as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 543 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherith most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherith was 1980, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherith is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherith in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 567 people with the name Cherith, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,871 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 Cherith 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 Cherith?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherith leans strongly female. 537 people counted with this name were female (95.7%), compared with 24 male bearers (4.3%). 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 Cherith?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherith is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.5%). 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 Cherith most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cherith in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.7% (435 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 Cherith in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherith a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherith 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 Cherith still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherith 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 Cherith 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 Cherith?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Cherith at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.