Cheryl
Girls' name · Mid-century
- Living in the US
- ~370,100 survival-weighted estimate
- 2025 rank
- #4,352 among girls
- Births in 2025
- 32 440,517 since 1880
- Typical age
- 66 years, median
Cheryl popularity over time
Cheryl was used most in 1958, when 24,178 babies were given the name. The name does not appear in the data until 1909. Across the record, 34 years put Cheryl in the top 100.
The 2025 position is #4,352, on 32 births. The ten-year change is -43%. It slipped 389 places against the previous year.
How many people are named Cheryl?
An estimated 370,100 living Americans are called Cheryl. SSA has recorded 440,517 births under the name since 1880.
This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.
How old is the average Cheryl?
The typical living Cheryl is 66 years old. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Cheryl a mid-century name.
Your Cheryl
Cheryl in England and Wales
In England and Wales, Cheryl ranked #4,201 in 2025 on 5 births. That is 67% higher than five years earlier.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.
Where the name Cheryl comes from
Coined in the early 20th century, possibly a blend of Cherie or Cherry and Beryl. (See cher for the etymology of Cherie.)
Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.
Notable people named Cheryl
| Name | Known for | Years | Editions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cheryl Hines | American actress | 1965 | 40 |
|
Cheryl Ladd | American actress, singer, and author | 1951 | 31 |
| Cheryl Strayed | American writer | 1968 | 27 | |
|
Cheryl Miller | American basketball player and coach | 1964 | 21 |
|
Cheryl Dunye | American actress and director | 1966 | 21 |
|
Cheryl Gillan | British politician | 1952–2021 | 18 |
|
Cheryl Studer | American dramatic soprano | 1955 | 18 |
| Cheryl Lynn | American singer | 1957 | 18 | |
Photo credits (6)
- Cheryl Hines — The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cheryl Ladd — ABC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cheryl Miller — Aurelio Jose Barrera, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cheryl Dunye — hinnk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cheryl Gillan — Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cheryl Studer — Eddy Seesing, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 591 in 1942 to 2,894 in 1943 — 4.9 times over in a single year.
Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.
People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.
Names similar to Cheryl
Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.
Related pages
- All names from 1958
- Top names of 2025
- Names beginning with C
- Every year, 1880 to 2025
- Names by state
Get this data
Every number on this page is available as JSON:
/api/name/cheryl.json.
Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).