Cheryl
A feminine English name of French origin meaning "darling" or "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 323,822 living Americans carry the first name Cheryl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cheryl today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheryl births was 1958 (24,177 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheryl. 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 Cheryl with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Cheryl is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 978 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Cheryl have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
324K
~ 1 in 1,058 Americans
Peak year
1958
24,177 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1990 SSA rank
#3,970
Tracked since 1909
Census
Cheryl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 372,339 people with the first name Cheryl, which placed it at #130 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
#130
National first-name rank
People counted
372K
372,339 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
123.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cheryl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheryl is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (10.8%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Cheryl 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 Cheryl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.0% · 309,147
- Black or African American10.8% · 40,191
- Two or more races2.5% · 9,179
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 5,493
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 5,378
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2,951
Gender
Gender distribution for Cheryl
Out of the 440,480 babies given the name Cheryl since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Cheryl as a male name
- Ranked #6,520 in 1990
- 7 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1958 (59 births)
Cheryl as a female name
- Ranked #3,970 in 2024
- 37 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1958 (24,118 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cheryl appears almost entirely female. Of the 372,341 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Cheryl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheryl from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 171,682 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
Cheryl 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 Cheryl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cheryls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Cheryl, while Nevada, Alaska, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8,568 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cheryl
The name Cheryl is a modern English feminine name that emerged in the early 20th century. It is believed to have derived from the French name Cherie, which means "darling" or "beloved". The exact origin and etymology of the name Cherie is uncertain, but it is thought to stem from the Old French word "cher", meaning "dear" or "precious".
While Cheryl does not have a long historical lineage, it gained popularity in the United States and other English-speaking countries during the mid-20th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Cheryl Crawford, an American theatrical producer and director who lived from 1902 to 1986.
Another notable figure with the name Cheryl was Cheryl Ladd, an American actress and singer born in 1951. She is best known for her role as Kris Munroe on the popular television series "Charlie's Angels" in the late 1970s.
In the literary world, Cheryl Strayed is an American memoirist and novelist, born in 1968. Her memoir "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" became a bestseller and was later adapted into a film starring Reese Witherspoon.
In the realm of sports, Cheryl Miller is a former American basketball player who achieved great success in the 1980s. Born in 1964, she led the University of Southern California to two NCAA championships and won a gold medal with the United States women's basketball team at the 1984 Olympics.
Another notable Cheryl is Cheryl James, a British singer and member of the pop group Girls Aloud. Born in 1983, she has enjoyed a successful music career and has also appeared as a judge on the television talent show "The X Factor".
While the name Cheryl may not have a deep historical significance, it has become a popular choice in modern times, with countless individuals bearing this name and leaving their mark across various fields and professions.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Cheryl
People
Cheryl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheryl 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
Cheryl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheryl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 323,822 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheryl 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 1,058 US residents.
Is Cheryl a common name?
We classify Cheryl as "Common". It ranks above 99.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 440,480 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheryl most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheryl was 1958, when 24,177 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheryl is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cheryl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 372,339 people with the name Cheryl, or 123.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #130 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 Cheryl 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 Cheryl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cheryl appears almost entirely female. Of the 372,341 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Cheryl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheryl is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (10.8%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Cheryl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cheryl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.0% (309,147 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 Cheryl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cheryl a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Cheryl 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 Cheryl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cheryl 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 Cheryl 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 Cheryl?
Want to know how many people share the name Cheryl? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.