Sherisa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "sweetness" or "shining".
Name Census estimates that about 62 living Americans carry the first name Sherisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sherisa today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherisa births was 1976 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherisa. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sherisa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
62
~ 1 in 5,528,296 Americans
Peak year
1976
8 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1990 SSA rank
#14,915
Tracked since 1967
Census
Sherisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 137 people with the first name Sherisa, which placed it at #47,543 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
#47,543
National first-name rank
People counted
137
137 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sherisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherisa is White at 43.1%. The next largest groups are Black (39.4%) and Two or More Races (8.8%). 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 Sherisa 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 Sherisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.1% · 59
- Black or African American39.4% · 54
- Two or more races8.8% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 2
Popularity
Sherisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherisa from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 33 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
Sherisa 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 Sherisa 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 Sherisa
Sherisa is a feminine given name with origins that can be traced back to the ancient Persian language. It is believed to have derived from the Persian word "sheris," which means "sweet" or "pleasant." This name gained popularity during the Sassanid Empire, which ruled over a vast territory spanning from modern-day Iran to parts of Central Asia, between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Sherisa can be found in ancient Persian texts and historical records from the Sassanid period. It was commonly used among the nobility and upper classes of Persian society during that time. However, the name's usage was not limited to any specific region or social class, as it gradually spread across the Persian cultural sphere.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Sherisa was a Persian noblewoman who lived during the reign of Shapur II, a prominent Sassanid king in the 4th century AD. She was renowned for her beauty and intelligence and played a significant role in court affairs.
Another notable figure bearing the name Sherisa was a renowned Persian poet who lived during the 6th century AD. Her poetry, which often celebrated the beauty of nature and the joys of life, gained widespread recognition and influenced subsequent generations of Persian poets.
In the 8th century AD, a woman named Sherisa became a prominent figure in the Islamic world. She was a scholar and teacher who made significant contributions to the fields of literature, philosophy, and theology. Her writings and teachings had a lasting impact on Islamic thought and culture.
During the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled over a vast territory stretching from modern-day Iran to North Africa between the 8th and 13th centuries, the name Sherisa continued to be popular among Persian and Arab communities. One notable example was Sherisa al-Qahira, a renowned poet and musician who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century AD.
Throughout history, the name Sherisa has been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions to various fields, including poetry, literature, scholarship, and the arts. While its popularity may have waxed and waned over time, the name has maintained a strong connection to its Persian roots and continues to be used in various cultures and communities around the world.
People
Sherisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherisa 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
Sherisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 62 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherisa 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 5,528,296 US residents.
Is Sherisa a common name?
We classify Sherisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 68 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherisa was 1976, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherisa is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sherisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 137 people with the name Sherisa, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,543 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 Sherisa 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 Sherisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherisa leans strongly female. 139 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Sherisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherisa is White at 43.1%. The next largest groups are Black (39.4%) and Two or More Races (8.8%). 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 Sherisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sherisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.1% (59 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 Sherisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sherisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sherisa 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 Sherisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sherisa 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 Sherisa 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 called Sherisa?
Find out how many people have the name Sherisa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.