Cherise
A feminine name of French origin meaning "beloved" or "cherished".
Name Census estimates that about 4,072 living Americans carry the first name Cherise. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherise today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherise births was 1971 (151 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherise. 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 Cherise with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 84,173 Americans
Peak year
1971
151 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,713
Tracked since 1947
Census
Cherise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,962 people with the first name Cherise, which placed it at #4,632 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
#4,632
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
3,962 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherise is Black at 41.1%. The next largest groups are White (40.9%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Cherise 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 Cherise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.1% · 1,630
- White40.9% · 1,619
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 293
- Two or more races5.8% · 230
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 136
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 54
Popularity
Cherise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherise from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,319 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cherise 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 Cherise during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cherises live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Cherise, while New Mexico, North Carolina, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 85 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherise
The name Cherise is a French feminine given name. It derived from the French word "chérie," meaning "darling" or "beloved." The name first emerged in the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, as a term of endearment used in romantic literature and poetry.
Cherise has its roots in the Old French word "chiere," which evolved from the Latin word "cara," meaning "dear" or "beloved." The name's popularity likely stemmed from its romantic connotations and the French tradition of using affectionate terms as names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cherise can be found in a 13th-century French romance novel titled "Le Roman de la Rose," written by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. In this work, the name Cherise is used as a character's name, representing a beloved or cherished woman.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cherise. One of the earliest recorded examples is Cherise de Polignac (c. 1590-1652), a French noblewoman and the mistress of King Henry IV of France.
Another notable Cherise was Cherise Cotter (1800-1876), an Irish artist and portrait painter who was renowned for her work in the Romantic style. She was particularly celebrated for her depictions of women and children.
In the 20th century, Cherise Booth (1920-2008), an American actress, dancer, and singer, gained fame for her performances on stage and screen. She appeared in several Broadway musicals and films during the golden age of Hollywood.
Cherise Thong (born 1950) is a Malaysian writer and academic known for her contributions to Malaysian literature and her work as a professor of English literature at the University of Malaya.
Cherise Sinclair (born 1962) is an American author of erotic romance novels, particularly known for her works in the BDSM and dominance/submission sub-genres. Her books have been widely popular within the erotic romance community.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Cherise, highlighting its enduring presence across different cultures and time periods.
People
Cherise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherise as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cherise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,072 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherise 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 84,173 US residents.
Is Cherise a common name?
We classify Cherise as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,484 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherise most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherise was 1971, when 151 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherise is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,962 people with the name Cherise, or 1.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,632 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 Cherise 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 Cherise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherise appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,960 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Cherise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherise is Black at 41.1%. The next largest groups are White (40.9%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Cherise most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cherise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.1% (1,630 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 Cherise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherise a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherise 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 Cherise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherise 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 Cherise 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 Cherise?
See how many Americans are named Cherise on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.