Sherlean
Derived from a blend of "Sheryl" and "Lean", potentially meaning "beautiful protector".
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Sherlean. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sherlean today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherlean births was 1950 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherlean. 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 Sherlean is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sherleans were born before 1965.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sherlean. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1950
6 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1963 SSA rank
#7,474
Tracked since 1943
Popularity
Sherlean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherlean from the 1940s through to the 1960s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 16 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Sherlean remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sherlean 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 Sherlean 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 Sherlean
The name Sherlean is a relatively uncommon name, and its origins are not entirely clear. It appears to be a combination of the English names Sheryl and Lena, or possibly a variation of the name Charlene.
One possible origin of the name Sherlean could be from the Old English word "scir," meaning "bright" or "shining," combined with the French name Lena, derived from the Greek word "lenos," meaning "light." This would suggest that Sherlean could be interpreted as "bright light" or "shining light."
Another theory is that Sherlean is a feminized version of the name Sherlock, which is derived from the Old English words "scir" (bright) and "loc" (lock of hair). In this case, Sherlean could have been a name given to a woman with bright or shining locks.
Historically, the earliest recorded use of the name Sherlean appears to be in the late 19th century. One notable bearer of the name was Sherlean Bartley (1888-1957), an American novelist and short story writer who was part of the Harlem Renaissance literary movement.
Another notable Sherlean was Sherlean Gordon (1910-1994), an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway musicals and films in the 1930s and 1940s.
In the field of sports, Sherlean Bowen (born 1954) was a former American sprinter who won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
Sherlean Kelley (1927-2006) was an American gospel singer and songwriter, known for her work with the Roberta Martin Singers and other gospel groups.
Finally, Sherlean Verta Green (1935-2011) was an American civil rights activist and educator who played a significant role in the desegregation of public schools in the United States during the 1960s.
While the name Sherlean is not as common as some other names, it has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields such as literature, entertainment, sports, and civil rights activism.
People
Sherlean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherlean 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
Sherlean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherlean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherlean 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Sherlean a common name?
We classify Sherlean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 26 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherlean most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherlean was 1950, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherlean is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Sherlean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sherlean a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sherlean 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 Sherlean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sherlean 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 Sherlean 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Sherlean?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.