Sheridan
Form of the Irish name Seirindiarainn, meaning "searcher" or "seeker of truth".
Name Census estimates that about 6,731 living Americans carry the first name Sheridan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Sheridan today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sheridan births was 2001 (328 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sheridan. 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 Sheridan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Sheridan started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
6.7K
~ 1 in 50,922 Americans
Peak year
2001
328 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2023 SSA rank
#6,104
Tracked since 1891
Census
Sheridan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,875 people with the first name Sheridan, which placed it at #3,170 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
#3,170
National first-name rank
People counted
6.9K
6,875 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sheridan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheridan is White at 73.5%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Sheridan 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 Sheridan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.5% · 5,053
- Black or African American13.0% · 891
- Two or more races5.1% · 352
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 324
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 136
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 119
Gender
Gender distribution for Sheridan
Sheridan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 8,340 total registrations, 2,760 (33.1%) were male and 5,580 (66.9%) were female.
Sheridan as a male name
- Ranked #12,021 in 2023
- 6 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1941 (52 births)
Sheridan as a female name
- Ranked #6,104 in 2024
- 20 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2001 (305 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sheridan on both sides of the split. Of the 6,871 people counted with this name, 1,644 were male (23.9%) and 5,227 were female (76.1%).
Popularity
Sheridan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sheridan from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,052 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
Sheridan 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 Sheridan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sheridans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Sheridan, while Nevada, Iowa, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 77 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sheridan
The name Sheridan is an English surname that has been adopted as a given name. It originated as a place name in England, derived from the Old English words "scir" meaning "bright" and "dun" meaning "hill" or "fort." The name likely referred to a prominent or distinct hill or fortified settlement.
The earliest recorded use of the surname Sheridan dates back to the 12th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was William de Schyridan, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1195.
As a first name, Sheridan gained popularity in the 19th century, particularly after the success of the Irish playwright and poet Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816). Sheridan was a prominent figure in the literary and theatrical circles of his time, and his plays, such as "The Rivals" and "The School for Scandal," are considered among the greatest comedies of the English language.
Another notable bearer of the name was Philip Henry Sheridan (1831-1888), a Union Army general during the American Civil War. Sheridan played a significant role in several major battles, including the Battle of Cedar Creek, and is remembered for his leadership and tactical brilliance.
In the 20th century, Sheridan was the first name of several notable individuals, including:
1. Sheridan Whiteside (1890-1965), an American actor and playwright best known for his role in the play "The Man Who Came to Dinner."
2. Sheridan Morley (1935-2007), a British writer, biographer, and critic who specialized in theater and film.
3. Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873), an Irish writer known for his gothic novels and short stories, including "Uncle Silas" and "Carmilla."
4. Sheridan Muir (1896-1975), a Canadian artist and illustrator known for her paintings depicting everyday life in rural Quebec.
5. Sheridan Smith (born 1981), an English actress and singer who has won numerous awards for her performances in television, film, and stage productions.
While the name Sheridan has its roots in England, it has been adopted across various cultures and countries, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions in various fields, including literature, theater, art, and military history.
People
Sheridan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sheridan 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
Sheridan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sheridan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,731 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sheridan 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 50,922 US residents.
Is Sheridan a common name?
We classify Sheridan as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,340 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sheridan most popular?
The single biggest year for Sheridan was 2001, when 328 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sheridan is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sheridan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,875 people with the name Sheridan, or 2.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,170 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 Sheridan 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 Sheridan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sheridan on both sides of the split. Of the 6,871 people counted with this name, 1,644 were male (23.9%) and 5,227 were female (76.1%). 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 Sheridan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheridan is White at 73.5%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Sheridan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sheridan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.5% (5,053 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 Sheridan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sheridan a female name?
Yes, 66.9% of people registered as Sheridan 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 Sheridan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sheridan 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 Sheridan 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 share the name Sheridan?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.