Cherish
Derived from the French word "chéri", meaning to adore, value, or hold dear.
Name Census estimates that about 10,872 living Americans carry the first name Cherish. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherish today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherish births was 2007 (461 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherish. 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 Cherish with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 31,526 Americans
Peak year
2007
461 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,480
Tracked since 1966
Census
Cherish in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,331 people with the first name Cherish, which placed it at #2,788 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
#2,788
National first-name rank
People counted
8.3K
8,331 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherish
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherish is Black at 41.6%. The next largest groups are White (37.7%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Cherish 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 Cherish at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.6% · 3,462
- White37.7% · 3,143
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 622
- Two or more races7.2% · 599
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 323
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 182
Popularity
Cherish: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherish from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,130 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cherish 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 Cherish during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cherishs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Cherish, while Iowa, Alaska, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 221 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherish
The name Cherish is an English word derived from the Old French "cherir", which means "to hold dear or embrace fondly". It originates from the Latin word "carus", meaning "dear or beloved". The name Cherish first emerged in the late 16th century as a virtue name, reflecting the desire to cherish or deeply appreciate someone or something.
In the English-speaking world, the name Cherish initially gained popularity during the Puritan era, when virtue names were commonly used to express religious and moral values. The name was seen as a reminder to cherish and nurture one's faith, family, and loved ones.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cherish can be found in the 1632 book "A Collection of Records" by John Winthrop, where he mentions a woman named Cherish Haukridge. However, the name remained relatively uncommon until the late 20th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cherish. In the 17th century, Cherish Stuyvesant (1628-1688) was a prominent Dutch-American woman known for her philanthropic work and contributions to the development of New York City. Another notable figure was Cherish Cooley (1857-1923), an American activist and suffragette who campaigned for women's rights and social reforms.
In the 20th century, Cherish Violette (1918-2003) was a renowned French artist and sculptor known for her abstract and surrealist works. Cherish Greenidge (1926-2012) was a Barbadian politician and diplomat who served as the first female President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1976 to 1977.
More recently, Cherish Finden (born 1972) is a British writer and journalist who has authored several books on parenting and family life, reflecting the name's association with nurturing and appreciation.
While the name Cherish has had a modest presence throughout history, it has gained increasing popularity in recent decades, reflecting a modern desire to express love, appreciation, and the value of cherishing meaningful relationships and experiences.
People
Cherish + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherish 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
Cherish: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherish?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,872 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherish 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 31,526 US residents.
Is Cherish a common name?
We classify Cherish as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,190 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherish most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherish was 2007, when 461 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherish is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherish in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,331 people with the name Cherish, or 2.76 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,788 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 Cherish 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 Cherish?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherish appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,334 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Cherish?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherish is Black at 41.6%. The next largest groups are White (37.7%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Cherish most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cherish in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.6% (3,462 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 Cherish in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherish a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherish 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 Cherish still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherish 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 Cherish 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 common is the name Cherish?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.