Sherla
A name of unknown origin, possibly a feminine form of Sherlock.
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Sherla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sherla today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherla births was 1944 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherla. 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 Sherla is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sherlas were born before 1954.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sherla. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1944
7 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1947 SSA rank
#4,711
Tracked since 1937
Census
Sherla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Sherla, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sherla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherla is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (24.5%) and Hispanic (12.2%). 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 Sherla 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 Sherla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.5% · 73
- Black or African American24.5% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino12.2% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 11
- Two or more races2.9% · 4
Popularity
Sherla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherla from the 1930s through to the 1940s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 14 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sherla 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 Sherla 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 Sherla
The given name Sherla has its origins rooted in the ancient Sumerian language, which was spoken in the region of southern Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq and parts of Syria and Iran, during the 3rd millennium BCE. The name is believed to be derived from the Sumerian word "sher-la," which translates to "precious stone" or "gem."
This name gained popularity among the Sumerian people, who were known for their advanced civilization and their reverence for precious stones and gemstones. The name was often bestowed upon children, particularly girls, as a symbol of their preciousness and value within the community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sherla can be found in cuneiform tablets dating back to the 3rd century BCE, where it is mentioned as the name of a priestess in the temple of the goddess Inanna, who was revered as the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Sherla. One of the most famous was Sherla of Uruk (c. 2800 BCE), a renowned poet and scholar from the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk, who is credited with composing some of the earliest known works of literature in human history, including the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Another notable figure was Sherla al-Kindi (c. 801-873 CE), an Arab philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who made significant contributions to the fields of optics, music, and cryptography during the Islamic Golden Age.
In the medieval period, Sherla de Montfort (c. 1220-1300) was a French noblewoman and crusader who accompanied her husband, Simon de Montfort, on the Eighth Crusade to the Holy Land. She was known for her bravery and leadership during the battles in the region.
During the Renaissance, Sherla Borgia (1480-1519) was an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her patronage of artists such as Raphael and Michelangelo, and her influence in the cultural and political circles of Renaissance Italy.
In more recent times, Sherla Bernhard (1944-present) is an American comedian, actress, and author, known for her outspoken and bold comedic style, as well as her advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights and feminist causes.
People
Sherla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherla 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
Sherla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherla 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Sherla a common name?
We classify Sherla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 19 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherla most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherla was 1944, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherla is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sherla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Sherla, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Sherla 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 Sherla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherla appears almost entirely female. Of the 139 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Sherla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherla is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (24.5%) and Hispanic (12.2%). 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 Sherla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sherla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.5% (73 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 Sherla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sherla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sherla 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 Sherla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sherla 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 Sherla 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 share the name Sherla?
Want to know how many people share the name Sherla? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.