Sheryal
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "of noble personality".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Sheryal. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sheryal today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sheryal births was 1949 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sheryal. 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 Sheryal is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sheryals were born before 1965.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sheryal. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1949
9 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1969 SSA rank
#8,487
Tracked since 1947
Popularity
Sheryal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sheryal from the 1940s through to the 1960s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Sheryal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sheryal 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 Sheryal 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 Sheryal
The name Sheryal has its origins in the Middle Eastern region, specifically in the Arabic language. It is believed to have emerged around the 7th century AD during the rise of Islam and the spread of Arabic culture across the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sheryal can be found in the ancient Arabic text, "Al-Muqaddimah," written by the renowned historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun in the 14th century. In this work, Sheryal is mentioned as a name given to a prominent scholar and poet from the city of Basra, located in modern-day Iraq.
The name Sheryal is derived from the Arabic root word "sharal," which means "to shine" or "to radiate." This suggests that the name may have been given to individuals who were perceived as being radiant or possessing a bright and luminous personality.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sheryal. One of the earliest was Sheryal al-Basri (680-743 AD), a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist who made significant contributions to the study of Islamic jurisprudence and hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad).
Another prominent figure was Sheryal al-Andalusi (1035-1094 AD), a renowned poet and philosopher from the Iberian Peninsula during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization in Spain. His poetic works, which often celebrated the beauty of nature and love, were widely admired and influential during his time.
In the 12th century, Sheryal al-Dimashqi (1127-1175 AD) was a celebrated mathematician and astronomer from Damascus, who made important advancements in the fields of trigonometry and spherical geometry.
During the Ottoman Empire, Sheryal Pasha (1535-1611 AD) was a prominent military leader and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier (prime minister) under Sultan Murad III.
In more recent history, Sheryal Mufti (1908-1979 AD) was a renowned Pakistani poet and writer who is considered one of the pioneers of modern Urdu poetry. His works, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary, have left a lasting impact on the literary landscape of South Asia.
People
Sheryal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sheryal 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
Sheryal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sheryal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sheryal 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Sheryal a common name?
We classify Sheryal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 32 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sheryal most popular?
The single biggest year for Sheryal was 1949, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sheryal 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 Sheryal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sheryal a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sheryal 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 Sheryal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sheryal 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 Sheryal 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 many people have the name Sheryal?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.