Where did the baby name Sherida come from in 1945?

The character Sherida (Phyllis Thaxter) in the 1948 movie "The Sign of the Ram."
Sherida in “The Sign of the Ram” (1948)

The name Sherida first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in the middle of the 1940s. In fact, Sherida was the top debut name of the year in 1945.

  • 1950: 34 baby girls named Sherida
  • 1949: 71 baby girls named Sherida [peak]
  • 1948: 67 baby girls named Sherida
  • 1947: 21 baby girls named Sherida
  • 1946: 20 baby girls named Sherida
  • 1945: 26 baby girls named Sherida [debut]
  • 1944: unlisted
  • 1943: unlisted

What put it there?

A mystery/suspense novel called The Sign of the Ram by Margaret Ferguson. It was published in 1944 became a best-seller.

It was set in pre-World War II Cornwall and the central character was Leah St. Aubyn, a wheelchair-bound poet who was the (young) matriarch of the well-off St. Aubyn family. Leah became increasingly vengeful and manipulative over the course of the story, and one of her targets was her secretary Sherida Binyon, who Leah thought was having an affair with her husband Mallory.

In 1948, the novel was made into a movie — mainly as a vehicle for actress Susan Peters, who had been a rising star in Hollywood before becoming a paraplegic due to a hunting accident. Actress Phyllis Thaxter played the part of Sherida. The movie didn’t do well in theaters, but it boosted the usage of Sherida to peak levels.

Also interesting: This usage of Sherida seemed to negatively affect the (female) usage of Sheridan, which slipped in both 1945 and 1948. Americans were probably using Sheridan as a girl name in the ’40s thanks to actress Ann Sheridan.

Do you like the name Sherida? Do you like it more or less than Sheridan?

Source: The Sign of the Ram – TCM

2 thoughts on “Where did the baby name Sherida come from in 1945?

  1. Interestingly, the name Sherida is in the news right now: Sherida Spitse plays in the Dutch women football team in the world cup. She’s one of the stars of her team and playing a great tournament.

    I wonder whether this is enough to bring the name back to attention.

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