Cheyrl
A feminine name of French origin meaning "little dear one".
Name Census estimates that about 109 living Americans carry the first name Cheyrl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cheyrl today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheyrl births was 1949 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheyrl. 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 Cheyrl is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cheyrls were born before 1966.
People living today
109
~ 1 in 3,144,535 Americans
Peak year
1949
13 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1966 SSA rank
#5,900
Tracked since 1944
Census
Cheyrl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 201 people with the first name Cheyrl, which placed it at #38,294 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
#38,294
National first-name rank
People counted
201
201 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cheyrl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheyrl is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.4%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Cheyrl 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 Cheyrl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 163
- Black or African American10.4% · 21
- Two or more races3.5% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Cheyrl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheyrl from the 1940s through to the 1960s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 64 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Cheyrl remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cheyrl 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 Cheyrl 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 Cheyrl
The name Cheyrl is a relatively modern variation of the more traditional given name Cheryl. It is believed to have originated as an English feminine form of the French masculine name Chéri, which means "darling" or "beloved."
The earliest recorded use of the name Cheryl dates back to the early 20th century, around the 1920s. It gained popularity in the United States and other English-speaking countries, particularly after World War II, when it became a fashionable name for baby girls.
While the name Cheyrl itself does not have a long historical lineage, its roots can be traced back to the Old French word "cher," which in turn derives from the Latin word "carus," meaning "dear" or "precious." This connection to the concept of endearment and affection may have contributed to the name's appeal.
One of the earliest notable individuals named Cheryl was Cheryl Crawford, an American theater producer and director who was born in 1902 and passed away in 1986. She was renowned for her work on Broadway and for nurturing the careers of many influential playwrights and actors.
Another famous Cheryl was Cheryl Ladd, an American actress and singer born in 1951. She is best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the popular television series "Charlie's Angels" during the late 1970s.
In the field of sports, Cheryl Miller, an American former basketball player born in 1964, left an indelible mark. She was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's basketball team at the 1984 Summer Olympics and is considered one of the greatest players in the history of women's basketball.
Cheryl Tiegs, an American model and actress born in 1947, was also a notable figure. She appeared on numerous magazine covers, including the iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue multiple times, and was considered a fashion icon in the 1970s and 1980s.
Lastly, Cheryl Strayed, an American novelist and essayist born in 1968, gained critical acclaim for her memoir "Wild," which chronicled her life-changing journey on the Pacific Crest Trail. The book was later adapted into a popular film starring Reese Witherspoon.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Cheyrl or its more common spelling, Cheryl, throughout history, showcasing the enduring appeal and versatility of this name across various fields and eras.
People
Cheyrl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheyrl 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
Cheyrl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheyrl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheyrl 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 3,144,535 US residents.
Is Cheyrl a common name?
We classify Cheyrl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 159 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheyrl most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheyrl was 1949, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheyrl is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cheyrl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 201 people with the name Cheyrl, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,294 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 Cheyrl 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 Cheyrl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cheyrl leans strongly female. 204 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.4%). 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 Cheyrl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheyrl is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.4%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Cheyrl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cheyrl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (163 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 Cheyrl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cheyrl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cheyrl 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 Cheyrl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cheyrl 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 Cheyrl 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 Cheyrl?
Want to know how many people share the name Cheyrl? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.