Cherlyn
Feminine name of English origin meaning "free man" or "cherished loved one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,452 living Americans carry the first name Cherlyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cherlyn today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cherlyn births was 1956 (70 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cherlyn. 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.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 236,057 Americans
Peak year
1956
70 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,300
Tracked since 1943
Census
Cherlyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,616 people with the first name Cherlyn, which placed it at #8,835 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
#8,835
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,616 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cherlyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherlyn is White at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.7%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Cherlyn 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 Cherlyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.8% · 869
- Black or African American26.7% · 432
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 180
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 72
- Two or more races2.1% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 29
Popularity
Cherlyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cherlyn from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 529 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cherlyn 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 Cherlyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cherlyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Louisiana, Texas recorded the most babies named Cherlyn, while Nebraska, Mississippi, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cherlyn
The name Cherlyn is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with roots tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries. It is a combination of two words: "chere," meaning "beloved" or "dear one," and "lind," which was a common suffix used to denote femininity or grace.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Cherlyn can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book lists a woman named Cherlinda, which is believed to be an early variant of the name Cherlyn.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name remained relatively obscure but continued to be used sporadically across various regions of England. It gained some prominence in the 13th century when a noblewoman named Cherlyn de Montfort became a prominent figure in the court of King Edward I.
During the Renaissance period, the name experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly among the upper classes. One notable bearer of the name was Cherlyn Howard, a courtier and poet who lived during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the late 16th century.
As the name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, including Cherlyne, Cherline, and Sherlyne. In France, it was adapted as Cherlaine, which later influenced the development of the name Charlene.
In the 18th century, the name found its way to the American colonies, where it was embraced by Puritans and other English settlers. One of the earliest recorded Americans with the name was Cherlyn Winthrop, born in 1692 in Boston, Massachusetts, to a prominent Puritan family.
Another notable figure in history was Cherlyn Bronte, the sister of the famous writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte. Born in 1808, she was a talented artist and writer in her own right, though her works were largely overshadowed by her more famous siblings.
In the 20th century, the name Cherlyn experienced a surge in popularity, particularly in the United States and Canada. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Cherlyn Sark, a Canadian athlete who competed in the 1976 and 1984 Olympic Games, winning multiple medals in track and field events.
Overall, the name Cherlyn has a rich and diverse history, spanning centuries and crossing cultural boundaries. While its origins can be traced back to Old English, it has evolved and adapted over time, reflecting the ebb and flow of societal trends and cultural influences.
People
Cherlyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cherlyn 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
Cherlyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cherlyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,452 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cherlyn 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 236,057 US residents.
Is Cherlyn a common name?
We classify Cherlyn as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,870 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cherlyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Cherlyn was 1956, when 70 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cherlyn is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cherlyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,616 people with the name Cherlyn, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,835 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 Cherlyn 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 Cherlyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cherlyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,616 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 Cherlyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cherlyn is White at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.7%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Cherlyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cherlyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.8% (869 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 Cherlyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cherlyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cherlyn 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 Cherlyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cherlyn 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 Cherlyn 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 Americans are named Cherlyn?
Want to know how many Americans are named Cherlyn? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.