Sharmon
An Old English name meaning "wealthy guard" or "rich protector".
Name Census estimates that about 369 living Americans carry the first name Sharmon. It is a predominantly female name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Sharmon today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharmon births was 1968 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharmon. 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
369
~ 1 in 928,874 Americans
Peak year
1968
44 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1976 SSA rank
#4,850
Tracked since 1947
Census
Sharmon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 433 people with the first name Sharmon, which placed it at #22,843 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
#22,843
National first-name rank
People counted
433
433 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharmon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharmon is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Sharmon 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 Sharmon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.4% · 296
- Black or African American24.7% · 107
- Two or more races4.4% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Sharmon
Sharmon leans heavily female at 98.5% of total registrations, but 7 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sharmon as a male name
- Ranked #4,850 in 1976
- 7 male births in 1976
- Peak: 1976 (7 births)
Sharmon as a female name
- Ranked #11,150 in 1978
- 5 female births in 1978
- Peak: 1968 (44 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharmon leans strongly female. 386 people counted with this name were female (87.3%), compared with 56 male bearers (12.7%).
Popularity
Sharmon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharmon from the 1940s through to the 1970s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 173 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Sharmon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharmon 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 Sharmon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharmons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Georgia, Illinois, Florida recorded the most babies named Sharmon, while North Carolina, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharmon
The name Sharmon is believed to have originated from the Middle English word "sharmon," which itself is derived from the Old English "scearmān," meaning "shearman" or a cloth shearer. This occupation-based name can be traced back to the medieval period in England, where it was likely used to refer to individuals involved in the wool trade or textile industry.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sharmon dates back to the 13th century, appearing in the "Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire" from 1273. This historical record lists a certain "Willelmus Sharmon" as a resident of the county during that time. The name's association with the cloth-shearing profession is further reinforced by its inclusion in the "Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, written in the late 14th century, where a character named "Sharmon the Shearer" is mentioned.
In the 15th century, the name Sharmon gained some prominence with the birth of John Sharmon (c. 1435 - 1506), an English clergyman who served as the Bishop of Salisbury from 1502 until his death. Another notable bearer of the name was William Sharmon (1548 - 1622), a English merchant and explorer who is credited with being one of the first Englishmen to establish trade relations with the Ottoman Empire in the late 16th century.
The name Sharmon also has a connection to religious and literary figures. In the 17th century, Reverend Thomas Sharmon (1621 - 1693) was a prominent Puritan minister and author, known for his works on theology and moral philosophy. A century later, James Sharmon (1735 - 1816) was an English poet and essayist, whose works often explored themes of nature and the pastoral life.
Moving into the 19th century, one notable bearer of the name was Sir William Sharmon (1812 - 1887), a British military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of the Cape Colony in South Africa from 1854 to 1861. His tenure was marked by significant reforms and efforts to improve relations with the indigenous populations.
While the name Sharmon has maintained its historical roots and associations, its popularity and usage have declined significantly in modern times, particularly in comparison to its more commonly used variant spellings, such as Sharon or Sherwin. Nonetheless, the name remains a fascinating testament to the rich tapestry of linguistic and cultural influences that have shaped the English language over the centuries.
People
Sharmon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharmon 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
Sharmon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharmon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 369 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharmon 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 928,874 US residents.
Is Sharmon a common name?
We classify Sharmon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 465 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharmon most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharmon was 1968, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharmon is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharmon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 433 people with the name Sharmon, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,843 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 Sharmon 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 Sharmon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharmon leans strongly female. 386 people counted with this name were female (87.3%), compared with 56 male bearers (12.7%). 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 Sharmon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharmon is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Sharmon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sharmon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.4% (296 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 Sharmon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharmon a female name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Sharmon 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 Sharmon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharmon 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 Sharmon 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 Sharmon as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.