Cherryl
A feminine name derived from the fruit cherry.
Name Census estimates that about 1,198 living Americans carry the first name Cherryl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherryl today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherryl births was 1947 (105 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherryl. 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 Cherryl is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cherryls were born before 1968.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 286,105 Americans
Peak year
1947
105 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1993 SSA rank
#13,874
Tracked since 1938
Census
Cherryl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,965 people with the first name Cherryl, which placed it at #7,671 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
#7,671
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,965 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherryl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherryl is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Black (18.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.5%). 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 Cherryl 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 Cherryl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.0% · 1,199
- Black or African American18.5% · 363
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.5% · 284
- Two or more races3.1% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 15
Popularity
Cherryl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherryl from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 672 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cherryl 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 Cherryl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cherryls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Michigan, Texas recorded the most babies named Cherryl, while Virginia, Oklahoma, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherryl
The name Cherryl is an English feminine given name that emerged in the late 20th century. It is derived from the word "cherry," which refers to the edible fruit that grows on trees in the rose family. Cherry is believed to have originated from the French word "cerise," which in turn came from the Latin word "cerasia" and the Greek word "kerasos."
While the name Cherryl does not have a long historical lineage, its association with the cherry fruit dates back centuries. Cherries have been cultivated since ancient times and have held cultural significance in various regions. In Greek mythology, the cherry was linked to the story of Demeter and Persephone, symbolizing fertility and renewal.
The earliest recorded use of the name Cherryl is believed to be in the mid-20th century, although specific dates and individuals are difficult to pinpoint with certainty. It gained popularity as a unique variation of more traditional names like Cheryl or Cherry.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Cherryl was Cherryl Coniers, an American singer and musician born in 1959. She was a member of the R&B group Skyy and contributed vocals to several of their hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s.
Another notable Cherryl is Cherryl Walker, an American actress and singer born in 1952. She is best known for her roles in the television series "The Jeffersons" and "What's Happening!!" in the 1970s and 1980s.
Cherryl Woods is an American golfer born in 1956. She played on the LPGA Tour and won several tournaments in the 1980s and 1990s, including the U.S. Women's Open in 1980.
Cherryl Browne is a British actress born in 1950. She has appeared in numerous television shows and films, including "The Bill," "Casualty," and "Eastenders."
Cherryl Samwell is a former New Zealand cricketer born in 1952. She represented the New Zealand national women's cricket team in the 1970s and 1980s and was a part of the team that won the World Cup in 1973.
While the name Cherryl is not as common as some other names, it has a distinct and unique quality that reflects its connection to the natural world and the cherry fruit.
People
Cherryl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherryl 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
Cherryl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherryl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,198 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherryl 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 286,105 US residents.
Is Cherryl a common name?
We classify Cherryl as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,757 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherryl most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherryl was 1947, when 105 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherryl is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherryl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,965 people with the name Cherryl, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,671 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 Cherryl 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 Cherryl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherryl appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,967 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Cherryl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherryl is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Black (18.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.5%). 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 Cherryl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cherryl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.0% (1,199 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 Cherryl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherryl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherryl 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 Cherryl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherryl 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 Cherryl 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 Cherryl?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Cherryl on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.