Sherril
A feminine English name derived from the word "sherry", meaning "little berry".
Name Census estimates that about 1,099 living Americans carry the first name Sherril. It is a predominantly female name (91.4% of registrations). The average person named Sherril today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sherril births was 1953 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sherril. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Sherril is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sherrils were born before 1966.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 311,878 Americans
Peak year
1953
82 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1953 SSA rank
#4,271
Tracked since 1925
Census
Sherril in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,630 people with the first name Sherril, which placed it at #8,786 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
#8,786
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,630 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sherril
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherril is White at 80.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.0%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Sherril 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 Sherril at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.4% · 1,310
- Black or African American14.0% · 228
- Two or more races2.6% · 43
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Sherril
Sherril leans heavily female at 91.4% of total registrations, but 153 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sherril as a male name
- Ranked #4,271 in 1953
- 5 male births in 1953
- Peak: 1937 (11 births)
Sherril as a female name
- Ranked #10,702 in 1986
- 6 female births in 1986
- Peak: 1953 (77 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherril leans strongly female. 1,514 people counted with this name were female (93.0%), compared with 114 male bearers (7.0%).
Popularity
Sherril: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sherril from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 638 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
Sherril 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 Sherril during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sherrils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Sherril, while Ohio, Missouri, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sherril
The name Sherril has its roots in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old English words "scir" meaning "bright" and "rill" meaning "stream" or "brook." The name was initially used to describe a person who lived near a bright stream or a location with a sparkling brook.
In the early medieval period, the name Sherril was primarily found in the Anglo-Saxon regions of England. It was a common name among the nobility and the gentry, often given to children born in the vicinity of clear, flowing streams or rivers.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sherril can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of lands and properties commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears multiple times in various county records, indicating its widespread use during the Norman period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sherril. One of the most famous was Sherril of Oxfordshire (1145-1212), a prominent landowner and knight who fought in the Third Crusade under King Richard I. Another historical figure was Sherril the Scribe (1295-1365), a renowned calligrapher and illuminator who worked on several important manuscripts in the 14th century.
In the 16th century, Sherril Devereux (1520-1589) was an influential English courtier and a close advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. He played a significant role in the political and cultural affairs of the Elizabethan era.
Moving forward in time, Sherril Wordsworth (1770-1859) was the sister of the famous Romantic poet William Wordsworth. She was a writer and diarist in her own right, known for her insightful observations on nature and the literary circles of the time.
In the 20th century, Sherril Milliken (1915-2003) was an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He founded the highly successful Milliken & Company, a textile and chemical manufacturing corporation, and was widely respected for his innovative management strategies.
While the name Sherril has evolved over the centuries, its connection to the natural world and its association with nobility and literary circles have endured. Its rich history and evocative meaning have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name across generations.
People
Sherril + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sherril 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
Sherril: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sherril?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,099 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sherril 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 311,878 US residents.
Is Sherril a common name?
We classify Sherril as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,775 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sherril most popular?
The single biggest year for Sherril was 1953, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sherril is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sherril in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,630 people with the name Sherril, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,786 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 Sherril 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 Sherril?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sherril leans strongly female. 1,514 people counted with this name were female (93.0%), compared with 114 male bearers (7.0%). 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 Sherril?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sherril is White at 80.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.0%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Sherril most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sherril in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.4% (1,310 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 Sherril in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sherril a female name?
Yes, 91.4% of people registered as Sherril 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 Sherril still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sherril 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 Sherril 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 Sherril?
Want to know how many Americans are named Sherril? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.