Sherryll
A variant spelling of the feminine name Sherrill, transferred usage from a surname.
Name Census estimates that about 68 living Americans carry the first name Sherryll. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sherryll today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherryll births was 1956 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherryll. 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 Sherryll is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sherrylls were born before 1962.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sherryll. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
68
~ 1 in 5,040,505 Americans
Peak year
1956
13 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1963 SSA rank
#7,483
Tracked since 1941
Census
Sherryll in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 137 people with the first name Sherryll, which placed it at #47,543 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
#47,543
National first-name rank
People counted
137
137 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sherryll
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherryll is White at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.3%). 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 Sherryll 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 Sherryll at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.2% · 92
- Black or African American17.5% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.3% · 10
- Two or more races4.4% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Sherryll: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherryll 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 58 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sherryll 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 Sherryll 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 Sherryll
The name Sherryll is a variation of the English name Sherrill, which has its origins in the Old English name Scir-ild or Scyr-ild. The name is believed to have emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, sometime between the 5th and 11th centuries.
The first part of the name, "scir" or "scyr," is derived from the Old English word meaning "bright" or "shining." The second part, "ild," is a common suffix in Old English names, meaning "battle" or "contest." Thus, the name Sherryll can be interpreted to mean "bright battle" or "shining contest."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sherryll can be found in the Domesday Book, a famous medieval census commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Scirill," and it is listed as a landowner in the county of Wiltshire.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Sherryll or its variations. One of the earliest was Sherrill Hall (c. 1530-1589), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Another notable figure was Sherrill Milnes (born 1935), an American operatic baritone who performed with major opera companies around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
In the literary world, Sherryll Kaye Cashin (1917-2002) was an American author and civil rights activist who wrote several books about the African American experience, including "The Agony of Juliet" and "Resistance and Conformity."
In the field of sports, Sherryll Lawerance (born 1956) was a Canadian track and field athlete who specialized in the long jump and won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Finally, Sherryll Dorval (born 1959) is a Canadian actress and singer who has appeared in numerous television shows and stage productions, including the long-running musical "Les Misérables" on Broadway.
While the name Sherryll has its roots in Old English and has been in use for centuries, it has remained a relatively uncommon name throughout history. However, its unique spelling and meaning have made it a distinctive and memorable choice for parents seeking a name with a rich historical background.
People
Sherryll + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherryll 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
Sherryll: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherryll?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 68 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherryll 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 5,040,505 US residents.
Is Sherryll a common name?
We classify Sherryll as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 109 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherryll most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherryll was 1956, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherryll is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sherryll in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 137 people with the name Sherryll, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,543 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 Sherryll 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 Sherryll?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherryll appears almost entirely female. Of the 134 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Sherryll?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherryll is White at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.3%). 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 Sherryll most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sherryll in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (92 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 Sherryll in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sherryll a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sherryll 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 Sherryll still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sherryll 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 Sherryll 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 Americans are named Sherryll?
Find out how many people have the name Sherryll on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.