Sherrin
Derived from a Gaelic word meaning "inquisitive" or "seeking knowledge".
Name Census estimates that about 211 living Americans carry the first name Sherrin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sherrin today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherrin births was 1947 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherrin. 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 Sherrin is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sherrins were born before 1969.
People living today
211
~ 1 in 1,624,428 Americans
Peak year
1947
22 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1974 SSA rank
#6,777
Tracked since 1940
Census
Sherrin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 360 people with the first name Sherrin, which placed it at #26,062 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
#26,062
National first-name rank
People counted
360
360 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sherrin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherrin is White at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.0%). 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 Sherrin 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 Sherrin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.3% · 246
- Black or African American19.2% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 18
- Two or more races3.9% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Sherrin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherrin from the 1940s through to the 1970s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 103 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Sherrin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sherrin 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 Sherrin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sherrins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sherrin
The name Sherrin is a variant of the Gaelic name Seirin, which originated in the Scottish Highlands during the Middle Ages. It derives from the Old Irish word "seirrín," meaning "little squirrel." This name likely arose as a descriptive nickname for someone with a lively or energetic personality, akin to the agile movements of a squirrel.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sherrin can be found in the ancient Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In an entry dated 1136, a man named Sherrin mac Gille Coluim is mentioned as a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Galloway, located in southwestern Scotland.
During the 16th century, a Scottish poet and playwright named Sherrin Brisset gained recognition for his contributions to the Scottish Renaissance. Born in 1540 in Edinburgh, Brisset's works often celebrated the beauty of the Scottish landscapes and the valor of its people.
In the 17th century, Sherrin Mackenzie emerged as a renowned Scottish mathematician and astronomer. Born in 1658 in Inverness, Mackenzie made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and is credited with developing a method for calculating the orbits of comets.
One of the most notable figures bearing the name Sherrin was Sherrin Stewart, a Scottish military leader who fought alongside Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the early 14th century. Stewart played a crucial role in several battles, including the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, where he commanded a contingent of archers.
Throughout its long history, the name Sherrin has maintained a strong association with its Scottish roots, although it has also been adopted by various cultures and communities around the world. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its unique sound, historical significance, and connection to the rich cultural heritage of the Scottish Highlands.
People
Sherrin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherrin 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
Sherrin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherrin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 211 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherrin 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 1,624,428 US residents.
Is Sherrin a common name?
We classify Sherrin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 310 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherrin most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherrin was 1947, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherrin is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sherrin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 360 people with the name Sherrin, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,062 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 Sherrin 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 Sherrin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherrin leans strongly female. 351 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Sherrin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherrin is White at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.0%). 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 Sherrin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sherrin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.3% (246 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 Sherrin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sherrin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sherrin 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 Sherrin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sherrin 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 Sherrin 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 have the name Sherrin?
See how many people share the name Sherrin on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.