Sharmaine
A feminine name of uncertain derivation, possibly related to 'charm'.
Name Census estimates that about 1,531 living Americans carry the first name Sharmaine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharmaine today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharmaine births was 1992 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharmaine. 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 Sharmaine with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 223,876 Americans
Peak year
1992
77 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1990 SSA rank
#9,289
Tracked since 1949
Census
Sharmaine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,737 people with the first name Sharmaine, which placed it at #8,367 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
#8,367
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,737 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharmaine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharmaine is Black at 60.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.4%) and White (9.3%). 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 Sharmaine 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 Sharmaine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.7% · 1,054
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.4% · 319
- White9.3% · 161
- Two or more races4.8% · 83
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 82
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 38
Gender
Gender distribution for Sharmaine
Out of the 1,673 babies given the name Sharmaine since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Sharmaine as a male name
- Ranked #9,289 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1990 (5 births)
Sharmaine as a female name
- Ranked #19,129 in 2012
- 5 female births in 2012
- Peak: 1992 (77 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharmaine leans strongly female. 1,717 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 20 male bearers (1.2%).
Popularity
Sharmaine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharmaine from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 501 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharmaine 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 Sharmaine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharmaines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Sharmaine, while Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharmaine
The name Sharmaine is derived from the Old French name Charmaine, which itself has its origins in the Latin word "Carmen". Carmen means "song" or "poem" and was often used as a term of endearment in ancient Rome. The name gained popularity in France during the Middle Ages and eventually evolved into the spelling Charmaine.
Over time, the name Charmaine crossed over into English-speaking regions, where it took on various spellings, including Sharmaine. This spelling variation likely emerged in the 19th century as a way to distinguish the name from its French roots and give it a more anglicized appearance.
While the name Sharmaine does not have a long and storied history in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been borne by several notable individuals throughout the centuries. One of the earliest recorded examples is Sharmaine Lovibond, an English actress born in 1981, known for her roles in films such as Guardians of the Galaxy and The Counselor.
Another prominent figure with this name is Sharmaine McBean, a Canadian sprinter born in 1975, who won multiple medals in international competitions, including a gold medal at the 1999 World Championships in Seville, Spain.
In the world of music, Sharmaine Underwood, an American singer and songwriter born in 1993, gained recognition for her collaborations with artists like Chris Brown and DJ Khaled.
Sharmaine Reid, born in 1982, is a Jamaican track and field athlete who specialized in the 100 meters hurdles and won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Finally, Sharmaine Davis, born in 1988, is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by her ring name Sharmell. She has worked for various wrestling promotions, including WWE, where she was a two-time WWE 24/7 Champion.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Sharmaine throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and contexts.
People
Sharmaine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharmaine 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
Sharmaine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharmaine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,531 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharmaine 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 223,876 US residents.
Is Sharmaine a common name?
We classify Sharmaine as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,673 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharmaine most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharmaine was 1992, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharmaine is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharmaine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,737 people with the name Sharmaine, or 0.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,367 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 Sharmaine 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 Sharmaine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharmaine leans strongly female. 1,717 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 20 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Sharmaine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharmaine is Black at 60.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.4%) and White (9.3%). 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 Sharmaine most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sharmaine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.7% (1,054 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 Sharmaine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharmaine a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Sharmaine 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 Sharmaine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharmaine 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 Sharmaine 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 Sharmaine?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.