Sharline
A feminine name of unclear origin, possibly a combination of Sharon and Linda.
Name Census estimates that about 284 living Americans carry the first name Sharline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharline today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharline births was 1961 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharline. 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
284
~ 1 in 1,206,881 Americans
Peak year
1961
13 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2012 SSA rank
#16,551
Tracked since 1925
Census
Sharline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 495 people with the first name Sharline, which placed it at #20,757 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
#20,757
National first-name rank
People counted
495
495 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharline is White at 33.7%. The next largest groups are Black (33.1%) and Hispanic (25.3%). 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 Sharline 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 Sharline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.7% · 167
- Black or African American33.1% · 164
- Hispanic or Latino25.3% · 125
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 25
- Two or more races2.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Sharline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharline from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 85 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
Sharline 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 Sharline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharline
The name Sharline has its roots in the French language and is believed to have originated in the late Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century. It is a feminine form of the masculine name Charles, which is derived from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "free man" or "manly."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sharline can be found in the archives of the French town of Dijon, where a woman named Sharline de Montfort was mentioned in a legal document dated 1387. This suggests that the name was in use among the French nobility during that period.
In the 15th century, a notable bearer of the name was Sharline d'Anjou, a French noblewoman who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie of France in the court of King Charles VII. She is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time, providing evidence of the name's continued use among the aristocratic circles of France.
As the name spread beyond France, it found its way into various literary works. In the 16th century, the English playwright William Shakespeare included a character named Sharline in his play "Love's Labour's Lost," further contributing to the name's recognition and popularity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sharline. One of the earliest was Sharline de Valois (1550-1598), a French princess who was the daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. Another notable figure was Sharline de Bourbon (1635-1678), a French noblewoman and the granddaughter of King Henry IV of France.
In the 19th century, Sharline Héritte (1801-1879) was a French entrepreneur and manufacturer who became successful in the textile industry. Additionally, Sharline de Rothschild (1828-1899) was a member of the renowned Rothschild banking family and was known for her philanthropic efforts.
Moving into the 20th century, Sharline Bunker (1916-2005) was an American actress and singer who appeared in several films and television shows, including "The Twilight Zone" and "The Beverly Hillbillies." Sharline Spiteri (born 1976) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and the lead vocalist of the band Texas.
While the name Sharline may have originated in France, it has transcended cultural boundaries and found its place in various societies over the centuries, carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions.
People
Sharline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharline 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
Sharline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 284 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharline 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 1,206,881 US residents.
Is Sharline a common name?
We classify Sharline as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 415 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharline most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharline was 1961, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharline is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 495 people with the name Sharline, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,757 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 Sharline 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 Sharline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharline appears almost entirely female. Of the 492 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Sharline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharline is White at 33.7%. The next largest groups are Black (33.1%) and Hispanic (25.3%). 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 Sharline most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sharline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.7% (167 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 Sharline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharline 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 Sharline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharline 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 Sharline 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 are called Sharline?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.