Sherill
A feminine diminutive form of Sheryl, likely derived from the French name Cherie.
Name Census estimates that about 709 living Americans carry the first name Sherill. It is a predominantly female name (94.4% of registrations). The average person named Sherill today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherill births was 1954 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherill. 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 Sherill is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sherills were born before 1969.
People living today
709
~ 1 in 483,433 Americans
Peak year
1954
48 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1957 SSA rank
#3,935
Tracked since 1931
Census
Sherill in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,120 people with the first name Sherill, which placed it at #11,437 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
#11,437
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,120 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sherill
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherill is White at 68.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%). 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 Sherill 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 Sherill at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.7% · 769
- Black or African American18.5% · 207
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.7% · 86
- Two or more races2.6% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Sherill
Sherill leans heavily female at 94.4% of total registrations, but 61 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sherill as a male name
- Ranked #3,935 in 1957
- 6 male births in 1957
- Peak: 1940 (10 births)
Sherill as a female name
- Ranked #15,405 in 1994
- 5 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1954 (48 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherill leans strongly female. 1,045 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 74 male bearers (6.6%).
Popularity
Sherill: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherill from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 330 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
Sherill 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 Sherill during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sherills live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Sherill, while Michigan, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sherill
The name Sherill has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the elements "scir," meaning "bright" or "shining," and "hild," meaning "battle" or "war." This combination suggests a meaning related to a radiant or illustrious warrior. The name is believed to have emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th century.
While there are no definitive records of the name's appearance in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that variants of the name were used during the medieval period in England. The earliest known reference to the name Sherill dates back to the 13th century, when it was recorded as a surname in the Hundred Rolls of England, a census-like survey conducted in 1273.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Sherill was Sir John Sherill, an English knight who lived in the late 14th century. He served under King Edward III and participated in the Hundred Years' War against France. Another notable figure was William Sherill, a 16th-century English merchant and explorer who was involved in trade with the Americas and the West Indies.
In the 17th century, Sherill Browne (1599-1667) was an English clergyman and author who wrote several religious works. He served as the Rector of Sutton Waldron in Dorset and was known for his sermons and theological writings. During the same period, Sherill Marston (1623-1684) was an English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Coventry.
In the 18th century, Sherill Massey (1731-1809) was a prominent English architect who designed several notable buildings, including the Church of St. Peter in Liverpool. He was also involved in urban planning and the development of public spaces in the city.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Sherill. While not an extremely common name, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including knights, merchants, clergymen, politicians, and architects.
People
Sherill + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherill 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
Sherill: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherill?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 709 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherill 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 483,433 US residents.
Is Sherill a common name?
We classify Sherill as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,080 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherill most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherill was 1954, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherill is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sherill in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,120 people with the name Sherill, or 0.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,437 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 Sherill 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 Sherill?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherill leans strongly female. 1,045 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 74 male bearers (6.6%). 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 Sherill?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherill is White at 68.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%). 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 Sherill most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sherill in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.7% (769 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 Sherill in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sherill a female name?
Yes, 94.4% of people registered as Sherill 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 Sherill still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sherill 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 Sherill 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 Americans are named Sherill?
Want to know how many Americans are named Sherill? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.