Sherrill
A feminine name of English origin meaning "bright meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 4,969 living Americans carry the first name Sherrill. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Sherrill today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherrill births was 1947 (334 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherrill. 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 Sherrill is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sherrills were born before 1966.
People living today
5.0K
~ 1 in 68,979 Americans
Peak year
1947
334 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1991 SSA rank
#9,417
Tracked since 1912
Gender
Gender distribution for Sherrill
Sherrill is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 8,847 total registrations, 1,915 (21.6%) were male and 6,932 (78.4%) were female.
Sherrill as a male name
- Ranked #9,417 in 1991
- 5 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1936 (74 births)
Sherrill as a female name
- Ranked #10,678 in 1997
- 8 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1947 (284 births)
Popularity
Sherrill: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherrill from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 2,845 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sherrill 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 Sherrill during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sherrills live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, North Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Sherrill, while Utah, Rhode Island, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 132 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sherrill
The given name Sherrill has its origins in the Old English language, with roots dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the Old English words "scir," meaning "bright" or "shining," and "hild," which translates to "battle" or "combat." Thus, the name Sherrill can be interpreted as "bright battle" or "shining warrior."
During the Anglo-Saxon period, the name Sherrill was likely used as a descriptive term for brave and valiant warriors who fought with distinction on the battlefield. While there are no definitive records of the name's usage in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been a common name among the Anglo-Saxon nobility and military ranks.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Sherrill can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086 CE. Several individuals with variations of the name, such as Scirild and Scirhild, are listed as landowners or tenants in various counties.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sherrill. One of the earliest recorded was Sherrill de Grentemesnil (c. 1060-1123), a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. He was later granted lands in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire for his military service.
Another prominent individual was Sherrill Babington (c. 1615-1670), an English cavalier and landowner who supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. He was captured and imprisoned by Parliamentary forces but later pardoned.
In the United States, Sherrill Milburn (1847-1923) was a prominent businessman and philanthropist from New York. He made his fortune in the banking and railroad industries and later donated generously to educational institutions and cultural organizations.
Sherrill Whiton (1886-1965) was an American painter and illustrator known for her depictions of rural life and landscapes. She studied at the Art Students League in New York and had her works exhibited in numerous galleries across the country.
Lastly, Sherrill Milnes (born 1935) is an American opera singer and baritone who has performed on prestigious stages worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera and La Scala. He is particularly acclaimed for his portrayal of Verdi's Rigoletto and has received multiple honors, including the prestigious Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France.
People
Sherrill + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherrill 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
Sherrill: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherrill?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,969 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherrill 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 68,979 US residents.
Is Sherrill a common name?
We classify Sherrill as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,847 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherrill most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherrill was 1947, when 334 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherrill is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sherrill a female name?
Yes, 78.4% of people registered as Sherrill 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.
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.