Cherrell
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly a variant of "Cheryl".
Name Census estimates that about 407 living Americans carry the first name Cherrell. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherrell today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherrell births was 1986 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherrell. 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
407
~ 1 in 842,148 Americans
Peak year
1986
50 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2003 SSA rank
#16,274
Tracked since 1960
Census
Cherrell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 385 people with the first name Cherrell, which placed it at #24,842 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
#24,842
National first-name rank
People counted
385
385 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherrell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherrell is Black at 78.4%. The next largest groups are White (15.1%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Cherrell 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 Cherrell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.4% · 302
- White15.1% · 58
- Two or more races4.4% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
Popularity
Cherrell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherrell from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 222 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
Cherrell 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 Cherrell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cherrells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Cherrell, while Texas, Georgia, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherrell
The name Cherrell is a modern English name that likely originated as a variant of the more common name Cheryl. Its roots can be traced back to the French name Cherie, which means "darling" or "beloved."
The name Cherie itself has its origins in the Old French word "chere," meaning "face" or "countenance." This word evolved from the Latin word "cara," which also meant "beloved" or "dear one." Cherrell, therefore, carries the same affectionate connotations as its predecessors.
While the name Cherrell is not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is a relatively recent addition to the world of given names. The earliest recorded usage of the name Cherrell dates back to the late 20th century, likely as a variation of the more popular name Cheryl.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Cherrell was Cherrell Green, an American singer-songwriter born in 1960. Green was a member of the R&B group The Outfield in the 1980s and later pursued a solo career.
Another notable Cherrell was Cherrell Rock, an American actress and dancer born in 1965. Rock appeared in several films and television shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including the movie "Lambada" and the TV series "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
In the realm of sports, Cherrell Moore was an American basketball player born in 1969. She played as a forward in the WNBA for teams like the Phoenix Mercury and the Detroit Shock, winning a championship with the latter in 2006.
Cherrell Williamson, born in 1972, was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump. She represented the United States in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in the latter.
Finally, Cherrell Green-Brooks, born in 1976, is an American singer and songwriter best known as a member of the R&B group Xscape. She has also released solo material and worked as a songwriter for other artists.
While the name Cherrell may not have a long and storied history, it carries the warmth and affection of its French roots, making it a modern yet meaningful choice for a given name.
People
Cherrell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherrell 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
Cherrell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherrell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 407 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherrell 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 842,148 US residents.
Is Cherrell a common name?
We classify Cherrell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 433 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherrell most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherrell was 1986, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherrell is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherrell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 385 people with the name Cherrell, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,842 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 Cherrell 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 Cherrell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherrell appears almost entirely female. Of the 385 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Cherrell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherrell is Black at 78.4%. The next largest groups are White (15.1%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Cherrell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cherrell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.4% (302 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 Cherrell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherrell a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherrell 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 Cherrell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherrell 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 Cherrell 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 Cherrell?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Cherrell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.