Cherylyn
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially a blend of "cherry" and "Lynn".
Name Census estimates that about 297 living Americans carry the first name Cherylyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherylyn today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherylyn births was 1947 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherylyn. 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
297
~ 1 in 1,154,055 Americans
Peak year
1947
16 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1993 SSA rank
#13,875
Tracked since 1945
Census
Cherylyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 436 people with the first name Cherylyn, which placed it at #22,736 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
#22,736
National first-name rank
People counted
436
436 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherylyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherylyn is White at 65.6%. The next largest groups are Black (17.2%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Cherylyn 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 Cherylyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.6% · 286
- Black or African American17.2% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 23
- Two or more races4.4% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 10
Popularity
Cherylyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherylyn from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 101 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
Cherylyn 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 Cherylyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherylyn
The name Cherylyn is a modern feminine given name that originated in the 20th century as a combination of the names Cheryl and Lyn. It does not have a direct linguistic root or cultural origin from ancient times.
The first part of the name, Cheryl, is derived from the French name Chérie, which means "darling" or "beloved." Chérie itself comes from the Old French word "chere," meaning "dear" or "precious." The name Lyn is a shortened form of names like Linda or Lynda, which have their roots in the Germanic name Linde or Linden, meaning "linden tree."
While the name Cherylyn itself does not have a long historical record, its component parts have been in use for centuries. The name Cheryl gained popularity in the United States and other English-speaking countries in the 20th century, particularly in the mid-20th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cherylyn can be found in the United States in the 1940s. However, it did not become widely used until the latter half of the 20th century.
Some notable individuals with the name Cherylyn include Cherylyn Harley LeBon, an American singer-songwriter and former member of the pop group DreamStreet, who was born in 1992. Cherylyn Peniston, an American singer and songwriter, known for her hit single "Finally" in the early 1990s, was born in 1969.
Cherylyn Woodard, an American actress and model, has appeared in several television shows and films, including "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and "The Originals." She was born in 1975. Cherylyn Zia, a Canadian actress and singer, has appeared in various stage productions and television shows, including "The Comeback Kid" and "The Strain." She was born in 1980.
Cherylyn Pennefather, a Canadian academic and author, has written several books on education and social justice. She was born in 1950.
It is worth noting that while the name Cherylyn is not as common as some other names, it has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in North America, as a unique and somewhat unconventional name choice.
People
Cherylyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherylyn 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
Cherylyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherylyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 297 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherylyn 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 1,154,055 US residents.
Is Cherylyn a common name?
We classify Cherylyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 378 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherylyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherylyn was 1947, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherylyn is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherylyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 436 people with the name Cherylyn, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,736 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 Cherylyn 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 Cherylyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherylyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 433 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Cherylyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherylyn is White at 65.6%. The next largest groups are Black (17.2%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Cherylyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cherylyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.6% (286 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 Cherylyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherylyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherylyn 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 Cherylyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherylyn 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 Cherylyn 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 have the name Cherylyn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.