Sruly
A Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew name Yisroel, meaning "one who wrestles with God".
Name Census estimates that about 143 living Americans carry the first name Sruly. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sruly today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sruly births was 2024 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sruly. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sruly with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
143
~ 1 in 2,396,883 Americans
Peak year
2024
21 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,844
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Sruly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sruly from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 74 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sruly 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 Sruly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Srulys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sruly
The given name Sruly is a diminutive or nickname form of the Hebrew name Yisroel, which itself is derived from the biblical name Yisra'el. The name Yisra'el comes from the Hebrew words "sarah" meaning "to struggle" and "el" meaning "God". It originated as the name given to the biblical patriarch Jacob after he wrestled with an angel of God.
The name Sruly first appeared in the Middle Ages among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe. It was a common nickname used for boys named Yisroel, similar to how "Charlie" is used as a nickname for "Charles" in English. The popularity of the name Sruly reflected the widespread use of Hebrew names among Jews during this time period.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Sruly can be found in the 16th century writings of Rabbi Moshe Isserles, a prominent Jewish scholar and authority on Jewish law. He refers to a contemporary named "Sruly ben Avraham", indicating the name was in use by at least the 1500s.
In the 17th century, there was a famous Kabbalist and rabbinical scholar named Sruly Maharam Schick (1619-1679) who lived in Poland. His full name was Yisroel Moshe ben Shmuel Yehudah Leib.
Another notable person named Sruly was Sruly Huberman (1828-1888), a Polish-born Hebrew writer and educator who lived in Russia. He published several works on Hebrew grammar and language instruction.
In the 20th century, Sruly Rubin (1904-1985) was a prominent American Hasidic rabbi and leader of the Bobov Hasidic dynasty. He was born in Galicia and immigrated to the United States in the 1920s.
More recently, Sruly Eidelman (born 1958) is an Israeli-American film composer known for his work on movies like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Aviator. He has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards for his film scores.
While less common today, the name Sruly continues to be used occasionally among Ashkenazi Jewish communities, particularly those with roots in Central and Eastern Europe. It reflects the long history and cultural traditions of Hebrew names within the Jewish diaspora.
People
Sruly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sruly 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
Sruly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sruly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sruly 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 2,396,883 US residents.
Is Sruly a common name?
We classify Sruly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sruly most popular?
The single biggest year for Sruly was 2024, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sruly is about 8 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 Sruly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sruly a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sruly 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 Sruly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sruly 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 Sruly 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 Sruly?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Sruly, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.