Sheryl
Sheryl was given to 13 girls in 2025, #8,279 among girls’ names; 79,026 Americans have been recorded with it since 1921 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 64,200 Americans named Sheryl and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (81% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 60 and 71.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Sheryl by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Sheryl mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Sheryl is “a female given name originating as a coinage, variant of Cheryl and Shirley.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Sheryl?
#8,279 among girls’ names, 2025
Sheryl fell from #7,223 in 2015 to #8,279 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 9.5 to 8.1 per million.
4,144 babies in 1957, the peak
Sheryl peaked in 1957, when 4,144 babies were given it (4,133 girls, #112 among girls’ names). The 13 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13 | #8,279 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 24 | #5,420 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 16 | #7,197 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 14 | #7,969 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 22 | #5,715 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 12 | #8,874 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 27 | #5,016 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 21 | #5,973 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 23 | #5,639 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 30 | #4,716 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (103)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 17 | #7,223 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 23 | #5,770 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 27 | #5,128 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 19 | #6,831 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 24 | #5,698 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 32 | #4,589 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 27 | #5,359 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 45 | #3,639 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 23 | #6,052 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 28 | #5,078 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 26 | #5,090 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 47 | #3,256 | 0.03 |
| 2003 | 54 | #2,872 | 0.03 |
| 2002 | 31 | #4,157 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 35 | #3,770 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 45 | #3,109 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 52 | #2,694 | 0.03 |
| 1998 | 46 | #2,880 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 53 | #2,472 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 58 | #2,304 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 68 | #2,019 | 0.04 |
| 1994 | 73 | #1,943 | 0.04 |
| 1993 | 89 | #1,688 | 0.05 |
| 1992 | 83 | #1,768 | 0.05 |
| 1991 | 109 | #1,458 | 0.06 |
| 1990 | 118 | #1,351 | 0.06 |
| 1989 | 135 | #1,199 | 0.07 |
| 1988 | 153 | #1,049 | 0.09 |
| 1987 | 175 | #939 | 0.10 |
| 1986 | 198 | #843 | 0.12 |
| 1985 | 198 | #825 | 0.12 |
| 1984 | 220 | #743 | 0.13 |
| 1983 | 218 | #750 | 0.13 |
| 1982 | 300 | #601 | 0.18 |
| 1981 | 319 | #580 | 0.19 |
| 1980 | 357 | #530 | 0.22 |
| 1979 | 412 | #491 | 0.26 |
| 1978 | 445 | #445 | 0.29 |
| 1977 | 386 | #494 | 0.25 |
| 1976 | 452 | #438 | 0.31 |
| 1975 | 575 | #362 | 0.39 |
| 1974 | 675 | #329 | 0.46 |
| 1973 | 795 | #295 | 0.55 |
| 1972 | 953 | #273 | 0.63 |
| 1971 | 1,192 | #246 | 0.72 |
| 1970 | 1,471 | #214 | 0.84 |
| 1969 | 1,704 | #186 | 1.0 |
| 1968 | 1,885 | #172 | 1.1 |
| 1967 | 2,241 | #154 | 1.4 |
| 1966 | 2,211 | #158 | 1.3 |
| 1965 | 2,535 | #147 | 1.4 |
| 1964 | 2,957 | #135 | 1.6 |
| 1963 | 3,105 | #135 | 1.6 |
| 1962 | 3,240 | #134 | 1.6 |
| 1961 | 3,125 | #140 | 1.5 |
| 1960 | 3,055 | #142 | 1.5 |
| 1959 | 3,540 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 1958 | 3,792 | #121 | 1.9 |
| 1957 | 4,133 | #112 | 2.0 |
| 1956 | 3,891 | #114 | 1.9 |
| 1955 | 3,412 | #125 | 1.7 |
| 1954 | 2,930 | #133 | 1.5 |
| 1953 | 2,400 | #148 | 1.3 |
| 1952 | 2,242 | #151 | 1.2 |
| 1951 | 1,934 | #161 | 1.1 |
| 1950 | 2,110 | #145 | 1.2 |
| 1949 | 1,971 | #149 | 1.2 |
| 1948 | 2,008 | #144 | 1.2 |
| 1947 | 1,835 | #163 | 1.0 |
| 1946 | 1,632 | #165 | 1.0 |
| 1945 | 1,055 | #194 | 0.81 |
| 1944 | 950 | #207 | 0.72 |
| 1943 | 588 | #287 | 0.42 |
| 1942 | 324 | #399 | 0.24 |
| 1941 | 195 | #499 | 0.16 |
| 1940 | 155 | #556 | 0.14 |
| 1939 | 135 | #578 | 0.12 |
| 1938 | 154 | #549 | 0.14 |
| 1937 | 77 | #786 | 0.07 |
| 1936 | 57 | #908 | 0.05 |
| 1935 | 32 | #1,301 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 31 | #1,312 | 0.03 |
| 1933 | 24 | #1,545 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,561 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 5 | #5,157 | under 0.01 |
| 1929 | 9 | #3,356 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 10 | #3,133 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 10 | #3,255 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 7 | #4,250 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 6 | #4,888 | under 0.01 |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,971 | under 0.01 |
| 1923 | 6 | #4,896 | under 0.01 |
| 1921 | 7 | #4,391 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Sheryl a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Sheryl has been given almost only to girls: 200 boys in 104 years of records.
Girls and boys named Sheryl: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Sheryl, and how old are they?
64,200 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 81% of the 79,026 Americans ever recorded as Sheryl. The median Sheryl alive today is 66 years old; half are between 60 and 71.
The 2020 Census counted 69,911 people named Sheryl (69,809 women and girls, 102 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 68,592 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,930 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 42,200 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 16,700 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,440 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 580 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 267 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Sheryl born?
The states with the most babies named Sheryl are California, Michigan and New York, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 7,848 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 5,276 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| New York | 4,927 | #2,037 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 4,489 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Texas | 4,419 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 4,255 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 2,961 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Iowa | 2,878 | not ranked | 2.3× |
| Indiana | 2,416 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Florida | 2,286 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Sheryl is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Sheryl is most over-represented in Iowa: since 1921 it was given 2.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Sheryl with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 90,617 babies since 1880, Sheryl is the most given (87% of them).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Sheryl
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Sheryl and names like it
- Compare Sheryl and SherrylBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sSheryl peaked in 1957.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Sheryl since 1910.
- Coined namesWiktionary’s origin for Sheryl: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1957The year the most babies were named Sheryl.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Sheryl alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with SMost given first.