Sherard
A masculine English name derived from the Old English words "scir" (bright) and "ard" (hardy).
Name Census estimates that about 510 living Americans carry the first name Sherard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sherard today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherard births was 1975 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherard. 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
510
~ 1 in 672,067 Americans
Peak year
1975
24 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2014 SSA rank
#13,746
Tracked since 1967
Census
Sherard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 461 people with the first name Sherard, which placed it at #21,846 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
#21,846
National first-name rank
People counted
461
461 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sherard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherard is Black at 79.8%. The next largest groups are White (10.0%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Sherard 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 Sherard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.8% · 368
- White10.0% · 46
- Two or more races4.3% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 10
Popularity
Sherard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherard from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 180 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sherard 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 Sherard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sherards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Sherard, while Georgia, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sherard
The name Sherard is believed to have its origins in the Old French language, deriving from the words "cher" meaning "dear" and "hart" meaning "stag" or "deer." It is thought to have emerged around the 12th or 13th century in areas of modern-day France and England.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Sherard can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name is listed as "Serardus," which is likely an early spelling variation.
In the 13th century, a notable individual named Sherard de Wissant was a prominent landowner and knight in Picardy, France. He is mentioned in several historical records from that time period, indicating the name's use among the French nobility.
During the Renaissance era, Sherard Buckley (1536-1610) was an English politician and Member of Parliament who served under Queen Elizabeth I. He played a significant role in the administration of the County Palatine of Lancaster.
In the 17th century, Sherard Cowper (1658-1737) was a notable English botanist and traveler. He studied plants and collected specimens during his travels through Europe and the Mediterranean region, contributing significantly to the field of botany.
Another prominent figure was Sherard Osborn (1822-1875), a British naval officer and explorer. He authored several books about his voyages and expeditions, including "Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal" and "The Discovery of the North-West Passage."
In the 19th century, Sherard Vines (1890-1963) was a British film director and producer. He directed several silent films during the early days of cinema, including "The Boxer's Romance" and "The Menace of London."
While the name Sherard has its roots in Old French and was used primarily in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it has since been adopted and used in various other cultures and regions around the world.
People
Sherard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherard 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
Sherard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 510 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherard 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 672,067 US residents.
Is Sherard a common name?
We classify Sherard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 537 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherard most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherard was 1975, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherard is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sherard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 461 people with the name Sherard, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,846 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 Sherard 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 Sherard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherard leans strongly male. 440 people counted with this name were male (96.5%), compared with 16 female bearers (3.5%). 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 Sherard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherard is Black at 79.8%. The next largest groups are White (10.0%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Sherard most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sherard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.8% (368 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 Sherard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sherard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sherard in the SSA data are male. 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 Sherard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sherard 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 Sherard 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 Sherard as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Sherard, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.