Shermon
A variant form of the name Sherman meaning "to trim" or "to shear".
Name Census estimates that about 162 living Americans carry the first name Shermon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shermon today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shermon births was 1947 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shermon. 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
162
~ 1 in 2,115,768 Americans
Peak year
1947
14 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2007 SSA rank
#14,073
Tracked since 1915
Census
Shermon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 172 people with the first name Shermon, which placed it at #42,074 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
#42,074
National first-name rank
People counted
172
172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shermon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shermon is Black at 79.7%. The next largest groups are White (14.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%). 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 Shermon 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 Shermon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.7% · 137
- White14.5% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 5
- Two or more races1.7% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 2
Popularity
Shermon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shermon from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 75 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shermon 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 Shermon 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 Shermon
The given name Shermon finds its origins in the Old English language, stemming from the combination of the words "scir" and "man," which together translate to "bright man" or "shining man." This name gained popularity during the Anglo-Saxon era in Britain, particularly between the 5th and 11th centuries AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shermon can be traced back to the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population records compiled in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. In this historical document, several individuals with the name Shermon are listed as landowners or tenants.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Shermon was predominantly found in various regions of England, particularly in the counties of Wessex and Mercia. It was a name often associated with nobility and landowners, as evidenced by its presence in several medieval charters and legal documents.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Shermon was Shermon of Salisbury, a prominent cleric and advisor to King Henry II of England in the 12th century. Shermon was instrumental in resolving the conflict between the king and Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and played a crucial role in the negotiations that led to the Constitutions of Clarendon in 1164.
Another individual of note was Shermon Fitzwilliam, a 13th-century English knight who fought alongside King Edward I during the Welsh wars. Fitzwilliam was granted lands in Shropshire for his valor and loyalty to the crown.
In the 15th century, Shermon Smythe, a wealthy merchant from London, rose to prominence as a benefactor and patron of the arts. His philanthropic efforts included funding the construction of several churches and supporting the work of renowned artists and writers of the time.
During the Tudor period, Shermon Cromwell, a distant relative of Oliver Cromwell, served as a member of the Privy Council under King Henry VIII. He played a significant role in the English Reformation and was instrumental in the dissolution of monasteries across England.
The name Shermon continued to be used throughout the subsequent centuries, though its popularity waned in comparison to other English names. Nevertheless, it has remained a part of the cultural and historical tapestry of Britain, serving as a testament to its enduring legacy.
People
Shermon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shermon 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
Shermon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shermon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 162 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shermon 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 2,115,768 US residents.
Is Shermon a common name?
We classify Shermon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 370 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shermon most popular?
The single biggest year for Shermon was 1947, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shermon is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shermon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 172 people with the name Shermon, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,074 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 Shermon 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 Shermon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shermon leans strongly male. 162 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 8 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Shermon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shermon is Black at 79.7%. The next largest groups are White (14.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%). 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 Shermon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shermon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (137 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 Shermon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shermon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shermon 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 Shermon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shermon 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 Shermon 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 Shermon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.