Cherl
An anglicized form of Cheryl, derived from French meaning "dear one".
Name Census estimates that about 292 living Americans carry the first name Cherl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherl today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherl births was 1962 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherl. 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
292
~ 1 in 1,173,816 Americans
Peak year
1962
24 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1978 SSA rank
#10,015
Tracked since 1944
Census
Cherl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 412 people with the first name Cherl, which placed it at #23,670 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
#23,670
National first-name rank
People counted
412
412 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherl is White at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Black (15.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Cherl 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 Cherl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.5% · 315
- Black or African American15.0% · 62
- Two or more races3.2% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 5
Popularity
Cherl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherl from the 1940s through to the 1970s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 141 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Cherl remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cherl 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 Cherl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cherls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherl
The name Cherl is an anglicized spelling of the Germanic name Cheryl, which is derived from the French name Cherie, meaning "darling" or "beloved." The name's origins can be traced back to the Old French word "cher," which means "dear" or "precious."
In the Middle Ages, the name Cherie was commonly used as a term of endearment in French-speaking regions of Europe. It was often used by lovers, parents, or close friends to express affection and fondness towards someone they cared for deeply.
The earliest recorded use of the name Cherl dates back to the 16th century, when it appeared in various literary works and historical records. One notable example is the French poet and playwright Pierre de Ronsard, who wrote a poem titled "Cherie" in 1552, dedicated to his beloved muse.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cherl. One of the earliest recorded examples is Cherl of Northumbria (c. 660 - c. 705), an Anglo-Saxon princess and abbess who founded the Monastery of Hartlepool in present-day England.
Another notable figure was Cherl de Troyes (c. 1135 - c. 1205), a French poet and storyteller known for her contribution to the development of courtly love literature in the 12th century.
In the 17th century, Cherl de Sévigné (1626 - 1696), a French aristocrat and writer, gained fame for her witty and insightful letters, which provide a valuable glimpse into the social and cultural life of 17th-century France.
The name Cherl has also been associated with notable figures in the arts and sciences. Cherl Curie (1867 - 1934), a Polish-born physicist and chemist, was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and is renowned for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity.
In the realm of literature, Cherl Brontë (1816 - 1855), the English novelist and poet, is celebrated for her masterpiece "Jane Eyre" and her contribution to the development of the Gothic fiction genre.
While the name Cherl has historically been more common in certain regions, such as France and parts of Europe, it has gained popularity worldwide in recent centuries, transcending cultural and linguistic boundaries.
People
Cherl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherl 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
Cherl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherl 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 1,173,816 US residents.
Is Cherl a common name?
We classify Cherl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 383 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherl most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherl was 1962, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherl is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 412 people with the name Cherl, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,670 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 Cherl 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 Cherl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherl leans strongly female. 414 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 9 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Cherl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherl is White at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Black (15.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Cherl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cherl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.5% (315 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 Cherl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherl 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 Cherl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherl 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 Cherl 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 Cherl?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.