Sharell
Of Arabic origin, meaning "noble" or "distinguished one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,273 living Americans carry the first name Sharell. It is a predominantly female name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Sharell today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharell births was 1986 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharell. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 269,249 Americans
Peak year
1986
72 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1989 SSA rank
#9,019
Tracked since 1939
Census
Sharell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,137 people with the first name Sharell, which placed it at #11,337 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
#11,337
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,137 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharell is Black at 78.5%. The next largest groups are White (14.0%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Sharell 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 Sharell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.5% · 893
- White14.0% · 159
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 38
- Two or more races2.2% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Sharell
Sharell leans heavily female at 98.8% of total registrations, but 16 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sharell as a male name
- Ranked #9,019 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1983 (6 births)
Sharell as a female name
- Ranked #16,134 in 2015
- 6 female births in 2015
- Peak: 1986 (72 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharell leans strongly female. 1,085 people counted with this name were female (95.8%), compared with 47 male bearers (4.2%).
Popularity
Sharell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharell from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 499 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharell 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 Sharell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. New York, Florida, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Sharell, while Michigan, Ohio, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharell
The given name Sharell is believed to have its origins in the Middle English language, which was spoken in England from the late 11th century to the late 15th century. It is thought to be a variant or diminutive form of the name Sharon, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Shārōn, meaning "plain" or "level ground."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sharell can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a manuscript record of a survey of much of England and parts of Wales commissioned by William the Conqueror. In this text, the name appears as "Sharelle," likely referring to a woman who lived in the late 11th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, the name Sharell remained relatively obscure, with few notable historical figures bearing this moniker. However, in the 17th century, a woman named Sharell Bradbury (1620-1692) gained some recognition as one of the first female settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, having arrived in America aboard the ship Arbella in 1630.
In the 19th century, the name Sharell saw a modest resurgence in popularity, particularly in the United States. One notable figure from this era was Sharell Everett (1832-1903), an American educator and advocate for women's education, who served as the first female principal of the Westfield State Normal School in Massachusetts.
Another individual of note was Sharell Delaney (1867-1944), an Irish-American labor activist and suffragette who played a significant role in the women's rights movement in the early 20th century.
Moving into the 20th century, one of the most prominent individuals named Sharell was Sharell Forrest (1920-2007), a British actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career, including roles in the classic movies "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1952) and "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1952).
While the name Sharell has never been overwhelmingly popular, it has maintained a consistent, if modest, presence throughout history, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its origins in Middle English and connection to the Hebrew name Sharon have lent it a sense of familiarity and timelessness, making it a unique and intriguing choice for a given name.
People
Sharell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sharell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharell 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 269,249 US residents.
Is Sharell a common name?
We classify Sharell as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,382 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharell most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharell was 1986, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharell is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,137 people with the name Sharell, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,337 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 Sharell 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 Sharell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharell leans strongly female. 1,085 people counted with this name were female (95.8%), compared with 47 male bearers (4.2%). 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 Sharell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharell is Black at 78.5%. The next largest groups are White (14.0%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Sharell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sharell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.5% (893 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 Sharell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharell a female name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Sharell 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 Sharell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharell 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 Sharell 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 Sharell as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Sharell, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.