Cheryll
A feminine name of English origin meaning "cherry orchard".
Name Census estimates that about 1,815 living Americans carry the first name Cheryll. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cheryll today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheryll births was 1955 (162 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheryll. 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 Cheryll is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cherylls were born before 1968.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 188,845 Americans
Peak year
1955
162 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,907
Tracked since 1934
Popularity
Cheryll: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheryll from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,138 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
Cheryll 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 Cheryll during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cherylls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Cheryll, while New Jersey, North Carolina, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cheryll
The given name Cheryll has its origins in the Old English word "chere", which means "face" or "countenance". It is believed to have been derived from the French word "chère", which also means "face" or "visage". This name first appeared in England during the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century.
During the Middle Ages, names were often chosen for their symbolic meanings or associations. The name Cheryll likely represented the idea of having a pleasant or cheerful countenance or demeanor. It was a name given to girls in hopes that they would grow up to be kind, warm, and welcoming individuals.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Cheryll can be found in the "Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici", a collection of Anglo-Saxon charters and documents from the 7th to the 11th century. In this collection, there is a mention of a woman named "Cheryll" who was a witness to a land transfer in the year 1068.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Cheryll. One of the most famous was Cheryll Crane, an American actress and dancer who rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born in 1913 and passed away in 1988.
Another well-known Cheryll was Cheryll Huxtable, a character from the popular sitcom "The Cosby Show". Although a fictional character, she was portrayed as a strong, intelligent, and ambitious young woman, embodying the positive qualities often associated with the name.
In the world of literature, Cheryll Jarvis was a British author and journalist who wrote several novels and non-fiction works in the mid-20th century. She was born in 1919 and passed away in 2003.
The name Cheryll also has a connection to the world of music. Cheryll Gamble was an American singer and songwriter who was a part of the Motown Records roster in the 1960s and 1970s. She was born in 1944 and passed away in 2021.
Lastly, Cheryll Soult was a Canadian actress and writer who appeared in various television shows and films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. She was born in 1946 and is still living today.
People
Cheryll + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheryll 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
Cheryll: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheryll?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,815 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheryll 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 188,845 US residents.
Is Cheryll a common name?
We classify Cheryll as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,628 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheryll most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheryll was 1955, when 162 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheryll is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cheryll a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cheryll 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.
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.