Sharyl
A feminine name of English origin, a variation of Sharon meaning "meadow" or "plain".
Name Census estimates that about 1,884 living Americans carry the first name Sharyl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharyl today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharyl births was 1961 (131 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharyl. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 181,929 Americans
Peak year
1961
131 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1998 SSA rank
#16,190
Tracked since 1937
Census
Sharyl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,351 people with the first name Sharyl, which placed it at #6,728 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
#6,728
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,351 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharyl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharyl is White at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Sharyl 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 Sharyl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.8% · 2,065
- Black or African American5.9% · 138
- Two or more races2.0% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 17
Popularity
Sharyl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharyl from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 944 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharyl 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 Sharyl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharyls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Michigan, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Sharyl, while Florida, Oklahoma, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 64 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharyl
The name Sharyl is a modern variation of the Hebrew name Shira, which means "song" or "poetry." It originated in ancient Israel and can be traced back to the Old Testament, where it was used as a feminine name.
In the Book of Psalms, the word "shir" is used numerous times to refer to songs of praise and worship. The name Shira was likely derived from this word, reflecting the musical and poetic nature of the name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shira dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was commonly used among Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East. During this period, the name was sometimes spelled as "Sheira" or "Shaira."
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Shira was Shira Gorby, a 14th-century Jewish poet from Spain. Her works, written in Hebrew, explored themes of love, spirituality, and the experiences of women during that time.
In the 19th century, the name Shira gained popularity among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and Russia. One notable figure was Shira Rube, a Russian-born writer and activist who fought for women's rights and education in the late 1800s.
The modern variation, Sharyl, emerged in the 20th century, particularly in English-speaking countries. This spelling was likely influenced by the English name Sharon, which has a similar sound and meaning (derived from the Hebrew word "sharan," meaning "plain" or "level ground").
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Sharyl was Sharyl Buckley, an American actress and singer born in 1918. She appeared in several Broadway productions and films during the 1940s and 1950s.
Another notable Sharyl was Sharyl Attkisson, an American journalist and author born in 1961. She worked for CBS News for over two decades and won numerous awards for her investigative reporting.
Sharyl Nason, born in 1945, was a Canadian figure skater who won multiple national and international championships in the 1960s. She later became a renowned skating coach and choreographer.
In the literary world, Sharyl Haley is a contemporary American writer and poet known for her works exploring themes of identity, family, and the human experience.
Sharyl Rene Roque, born in 1989, is a Filipino actress and model who has appeared in numerous television shows and films in the Philippines.
While the name Sharyl is not as common as its original Hebrew counterpart, Shira, it has gained a unique identity and continues to be used in various parts of the world, carrying with it the musical and poetic connotations of its ancient origins.
People
Sharyl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharyl 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
Sharyl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharyl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,884 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharyl 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 181,929 US residents.
Is Sharyl a common name?
We classify Sharyl as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,631 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharyl most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharyl was 1961, when 131 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharyl 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 Sharyl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,351 people with the name Sharyl, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,728 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 Sharyl 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 Sharyl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharyl appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,349 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 Sharyl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharyl is White at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Sharyl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sharyl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (2,065 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 Sharyl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharyl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharyl 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 Sharyl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharyl 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 Sharyl 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 Sharyl?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Sharyl, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.