How popular is the baby name Cheryl in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Cheryl.

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Popularity of the baby name Cheryl


Posts that mention the name Cheryl

What gave the baby name Cherylene a boost in 1946?

Cherylene Robison and her mother, Rona
Rona and Cherylene Robison

The baby name Cherylene saw peak usage in the U.S. in 1946:

  • 1948: 11 baby girls named Cherylene
  • 1947: 20 baby girls named Cherylene
  • 1946: 56 baby girls named Cherylene
  • 1945: unlisted
  • 1944: 7 baby girls named Cherylene

The name Cheryl was very trendy in the mid-1940s, and 1946 happened to be the first year of the post-war baby boom. But I think there’s a more specific reason for Cherylene’s impressive usage.

The reason?

A two-month-old Australian baby named Cherylene Robison, whose picture was published in a number of U.S. newspapers that January.

Doctors in Australia had determined that Cherylene needed life-saving cranial surgery. (Her fontanelle had not closed.)

So Cherylene and her mother, Rona, took a multi-leg “mercy flight” from Perth to Oakland (via Brisbane and Honolulu) courtesy of the U.S. military.

While they traveled east by plane, Cherylene’s father, American ex-serviceman Robert J. Robison, traveled west by train (from Kansas) to meet them.

Soon after the baby arrived, she was examined by doctors at the University of California Hospital in San Francisco. They concluded that she did not need an operation after all.

At the time of the 1950 U.S. Census, the Robison family was living together in San Mateo, California, and 4-year-old Cherylene had two younger siblings, Teresa and Reginald.

What are your thoughts on the name Cherylene?

P.S. Some of the 1960s usage of the name may have been influenced by child actress Cherylene Lee (b. 1953). She had a role in the 1963 John Wayne movie Donovan’s Reef, for instance.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Press Democrat (24 Jan. 1946)

What popularized the baby name Brandy in the early 1970s?

Looking Glass single "Brandy" (1972)
Looking Glass single

The baby name Brandy — which comes from the name of the alcoholic beverage — first appeared in the U.S. data as a girl name during the WWII era.

Over the next few decades, usage of the name slowly increased with some help from pop culture. The films Two of a Kind (1951), Destry (1954), and Hatari! (1962) all featured female characters named Brandy, and several early TV shows (such as The Untouchables, The Defenders, and Tales of Wells Fargo) likewise included minor female characters with the name.

Then, in the early 1970s, the usage of Brandy suddenly tripled:

  • 1974: 3,831 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 80th]
  • 1973: 3,714 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 82nd]
  • 1972: 2,082 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 140th]
  • 1971: 704 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 353rd]
  • 1970: 610 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 385th]

Other spellings (such as Brandi, Brandie, Brandee, Brande, and Brandye) also got a boost.

Why?

Because of the soft-rock song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” [vid] by the New Jersey band Looking Glass.

It was released as a single in May of 1972 and reached the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in late August.

The song was about a female bartender named Brandy who, though she served many of the sailors passing through her harbor town, pined for a particular one (who’d left her to return to the sea).

Band member Elliot Lurie wrote the song. How did he choose Brandy’s name?

The name was derived from a high school girlfriend I had whose name was Randy with an “R.” Usually when I write […] I strum some guitar and kind of sing along with the first things that come to mind. Her name came up. Then I started writing the rest of the song, and it was about a barmaid. I thought Randy was an unusual name for a girl, it could go either way, and (the song was about) a barmaid, so I changed it to Brandy.

Thanks to the song, the name Brandy entered the girls’ top 100 in 1973.

But that’s not the end of the story. Later the same decade, the name got another boost from another song:

  • 1980: 6,410 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 42nd]
  • 1979: 6,775 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 39th]
  • 1978: 6,699 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 37th] (peak ranking)
  • 1977: 5,477 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 51st]
  • 1976: 5,232 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 55th]

This time it was the R&B song “Brandy” [vid] by the vocal group The O’Jays.

It was released as a single in July of 1978 and went on to peak at #79 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in October.

The song was about a dog named Brandy that had run away from home, believe it or not. An advertisement for the song in Billboard magazine offered the following visual:

Detail of an advertisement for the song "Brandy" from Billboard magazine (Aug. 1978)
“Brandy” advertisement

Future R&B singer Brandy Norwood, who was born in early 1979, might have been named with the O’Jays tune in mind.

So, how did the liquor come to be known as “brandy” in the first place? The word derives from the Dutch term brandewijn, meaning “burnt wine” (as brandy is created from wine that has been distilled via heat). It’s possible that Brandy’s emergence as a baby name in the mid-20th century was inspired by the trendiness of Sherry (which, in turn, was likely influenced by the rise of Cheryl).

What are your thoughts on the name Brandy?

Sources:

Second image: Clipping from Billboard magazine (5 Aug. 1978)

How did Sonny and Cher influence baby names in the 1970s?

Sonny & Chér's debut album "Look at Us" (1965)
Sonny & Chér album

Folk-rock duo Sonny & Cher (pronounced shair) — made up of Salvatore “Sonny” Bono and Cherilyn “Cher” Sarkisian — met in 1962 and got married in 1964.

Soon after, they scored their first big hits: “I Got You Babe,” which ranked #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart for three weeks straight in August of 1965, followed by “Baby Don’t Go,” which peaked at #8 in October.

Over the next few years, the pair put out several more successful singles, such as “The Beat Goes On,” which reached #6 in early 1967. Cher also released several solo singles, including the top-10 hits “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” and “You Better Sit Down Kids.”

As a result, the name Cher returned to the U.S. baby name data in 1965 (after a one-year absence) and began rising in usage:

  • 1967: 43 baby girls named Cher
  • 1966: 32 baby girls named Cher
  • 1965: 18 baby girls named Cher
  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: 12 baby girls named Cher

Interestingly, during the second half of the ’60s (and into early ’70s), Cher’s name was typically written with an accent mark over the e on record covers:

Detail from the cover of the album Chér (1966)
“Chér”

I’m not sure how many of Cher’s namesakes similarly wrote their names with an accent mark, though, because the SSA’s data doesn’t include diacritics (among other things).

After several years of success, Sonny & Cher’s popularity began to wane. Here’s how Life magazine accounted for the decline:

Sonny and Cher had about two good years before, along with a lot of other singers of the class of ’65, they disappeared from the record charts and radio. […] They lost the young when acid rock took over from their simple, easy beat.

So the couple went on the road, performing in nightclubs. They developed an act that involved both music and comedy.

They also welcomed their only child, a daughter named Chastity Sun, in March of 1969. The baby had been conceived while Cher was filming the (unsuccessful) movie Chastity, which was released several months later, in June.

Right on cue, the rare name Chastity appeared for the first time in the U.S. baby name data in 1969 — thanks to the baby, or to the movie, or both.

Sonny and Cher on the "Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" (Mar. 1972)
Sonny and Cher

Their nightclub act led to them being re-discovered by a CBS executive, who gave them their own TV variety show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, which premiered in August of 1971. The series quickly became popular and remained so throughout its four-season run.

While the show was on the air, Cher continued releasing solo singles. In fact, three of her songs reached the top spot on the Hot 100:

  • “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,” which peaked at #1 in November of 1971,
  • “Half-Breed,” in October of 1973, and
  • “Dark Lady,” in March of 1974.

In response to Sonny and Cher’s second wave of popularity, the usage of the baby names Sonny and Cher increased in 1972:

Girls named CherBoys named Sonny
1974103281 [rank: 475th]
1973178 [rank: 760th]274 [rank: 476th]
1972235† [rank: 650th]263 [rank: 486th]
1971110206 [rank: 567th]
197072192 [rank: 587th]
†Peak usage

Cher’s birth name, Cherilyn, also saw a nearly six-fold increase in usage that year:

  • 1974: 112 baby girls named Cherilyn
  • 1973: 84 baby girls named Cherilyn
  • 1972: 161 baby girls named Cherilyn [rank: 824th]
  • 1971: 27 baby girls named Cherilyn
  • 1970: 23 baby girls named Cherilyn

How did she come to have the name Cherilyn? Here’s how Cher’s mother, actress Georgia Holt, explained it:

The first part was for Lana Turner’s daughter. I loved that name Cheryl. And the second part was for my mother, Lynda.

Chastity, Sonny and Cher on the "Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" (Sept. 1973)
Chastity, Sonny, and Cher

The couple’s young daughter Chastity was also featured on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour dozens of times. These appearances propelled the name Chastity into the top 1,000 in 1972, then the top 500 in 1973:

  • 1974: 749 baby girls named Chastity [rank: 311th]
  • 1973: 544 baby girls named Chastity [rank: 380th]
  • 1972: 220 baby girls named Chastity [rank: 675th]
  • 1971: 50 baby girls named Chastity
  • 1970: 40 baby girls named Chastity

By 1974, the couple’s marriage was on the rocks. The TV series ended in May of that year, Sonny and Cher’s divorce was finalized in mid-1975.

In early 1976, Sonny and Cher put their differences aside to co-host a new version of the show, simply called The Sonny & Cher Show.

In July of 1976, Cher welcomed a baby boy named Elijah Blue with her second husband, musician Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. Two months later, when The Sonny & Cher Show resumed after a summer break, Cher and Sonny spoke about Elijah Blue on the air.

The following year, the usage of the baby name Elijah increased by more than 67%:

  • 1978: 547 baby boys named Elijah [rank: 322nd]
  • 1977: 504 baby boys named Elijah [rank: 350th]
  • 1976: 301 baby boys named Elijah [rank: 452nd]
  • 1975: 263 baby boys named Elijah [rank: 491st]
  • 1974: 288 baby boys named Elijah [rank: 472nd]

The second iteration of the TV series lasted until August of 1977, and Cher’s tumultuous second marriage ended not long after that.

In late 1978, Cher filed a name-change petition in Los Angeles Superior Court. Her request to shorten her legal name to the mononym Cher was granted in early 1979.

Decades later, she said:

For so long I was “Cher from Sonny and Cher.” And then I had two children, and each had a different father with a last name that I’d taken on. One day I just realized, “I’m Cher, I don’t need anything else.”

Sources:

Third and fourth images: Screenshots of the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (episodes from Mar. 1972 and Sept. 1973)

Baby names that re-emerged most impressively in the U.S. data, 1882 to today

young leaves

We know which names debuted most impressively in the U.S. baby name data, but what about the baby names that returned most impressively? That is, the names that re-emerged in the data (after an absence of at least one year) with the highest number of babies?

Below are the most popular re-emerging names for every single year on record, after the second.

Here’s the format: Girl names are on the left, boy names are on the right, and the numbers represent single-year usage (following an absence). In 1971, for instance, the girl name Devonia returned to the data with 22 babies, and the boy name Idris returned to the data with 21 babies.

  • 1882: Harry, 14; Saul, 15
  • 1883: Luna, 17; Anna, 20
  • 1884: Eulalia & Margaretta, 15; Billie, 18
  • 1885: Philomene, 13; Kirby & Lamar, 14
  • 1886: Ammie, Attie, Drusilla, Eulalia & Narcissus, 14; Emmit & Ivy, 15
  • 1887: Idell, 12; Benjaman, 13
  • 1888: Guadalupe, 18; Hunter, 16
  • 1889: Leonie, 21; Leander, 22
  • 1890: Delila, Hildegarde & Sabra, 17; Buford, Loyal & Pleasant, 13
  • 1891: Marvel, 15; Roswell, 20
  • 1892: Jennette, 16; Vernie, 15
  • 1893: Byrd & Corda, 16; Salvatore, 14
  • 1894: Mozelle, 15; Essie, 18
  • 1895: Consuelo, 16; Adelard, 16
  • 1896: Dorris, 17; Bertrand & Hilliard, 16
  • 1897: Coletta & Marilla, 13; Gale, Harve & Odell, 13
  • 1898: Vlasta, 16; Oakley, 16
  • 1899: Gwen & Velda, 15; Ivory, 14
  • 1900: Ammie, 21; Lonzo, 22
  • 1901: Alvera, 17; Ernesto, 11
  • 1902: Hermine, 17; Junious, 20
  • 1903: Genie, 17: Lesley, 17
  • 1904: Laurel & Santa, 16; Caesar, 15
  • 1905: Ellar, 15; Cicero & Quincy, 15
  • 1906: Osa, 18; Craig & Tracy, 16
  • 1907: Joanne, 19; Gale, 15
  • 1908: Merna, 18; Andres, 19
  • 1909: Aili, 22; Loy, 22
  • 1910: Corean, 21; Lou, 18
  • 1911: Aune, 17; Ozie, 17
  • 1912: Veryl, 21; Arvin, 21
  • 1913: Loise, 25; Magnus, 15
  • 1914: Rema, 23; Elio, 18
  • 1915: Alleyne & Cledith, 20; Reyes, 24
  • 1916: Ercelle & Fayette, 14; Pleas, 25
  • 1917: Lowell, Mazelle & Patria, 16; Woodruff, 18
  • 1918: Victory, 78; Everitt, 19
  • 1919: Lanell, 16; Olney, 21
  • 1920: Iline & Keitha, 18; Heath, 19
  • 1921: Gilberte & Jacklyn, 16; Donold, 16
  • 1922: Basilia & Glayds, 15; Jw, 17
  • 1923: Marvene, 18; Silvestre, 19
  • 1924: Willadeen, 35; Delno, 19
  • 1925: Noralee, 20; Primitivo, 16
  • 1926: Sondra, 20; Torao, 27
  • 1927: Elga & Lindy, 27; Shoji, 81
  • 1928: Remona, 22; Windle, 17
  • 1929: Darla, 19; Davy, 25
  • 1930: Evalene, 17; Anastasio, 17
  • 1931: Marilyne, 17; Meliton, 15
  • 1932: Maribelle & Wynne, 16; Jacqueline, 18
  • 1933: Sheryl, 24; Lanny, 24
  • 1934: Carolynne & Viona, 15; Filiberto, 20
  • 1935: Vanessa, 32; Kenley, 29
  • 1936: Ardene & Lucienne, 18; Domenico, 15
  • 1937: Nadeen, 19; Lavell, 19
  • 1938: Josette, 44; Bertil & Jerol, 18
  • 1939: Charmayne, 18; Wilborn, 15

(The Social Security Administration’s baby name data isn’t perfect, but it does get a lot more accurate starting in the late 1930s because, according to the SSA, “many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so their names are not included in our data.”)

  • 1940: Wendell, 25; Wilkie, 61
  • 1941: Aloma, 47; Maximo, 16
  • 1942: Victory, 51; Corey, 27
  • 1943: Corliss, 44; Amando & Cheryl, 16
  • 1944: Drenda, 50; Ruperto, 16
  • 1945: Drena, 37; Arie, 16
  • 1946: Cherylene, 56; Cliffton, 17
  • 1947: Asenath, 32; Baltazar, 20
  • 1948: Valli, 45; Carley, 15
  • 1949: Lark, 66; Buel, Dennison & Nehemiah, 18
  • 1950: Jasmine, 24; Jory, 52
  • 1951: Vendetta, 48; Alfonzia, Clell, Rondy, Ulysee & Vander, 15
  • 1952: Whitney, 20; Adlai, 40
  • 1953: Lugene, 30; Kervin, 18
  • 1954: Jyl, 80; Rahn, 66
  • 1955: Danni, 49; Teri, 17
  • 1956: Kirsti & Skye, 29; Timonthy, 21
  • 1957: Tammara, 38; Creed, 20
  • 1958: Elfreda, 33; Yancy, 24
  • 1959: Torrie, 42; Kym, 41
  • 1960: Pollyanna, 21; Armon & Delray, 20
  • 1961: Marnita, 145; Cord, 45
  • 1962: Anetta & Colinda, 18; Buckley, 18
  • 1963: Michaelann, 30; Georgie & Jerrod, 19
  • 1964: Djuana, 190; Destry, 149
  • 1965: Virna, 38; Horatio, 17
  • 1966: Tamatha, 222; Trevin, 21
  • 1967: Millette, 68; Arnel, Keary, Ky & Ricco, 15
  • 1968: Neely, 40; Griffith, Kacy & Troyce, 16
  • 1969: Francelia, 23; Darrius, 18
  • 1970: Telisha & Zenja, 26; Germaine, 29
  • 1971: Devonia, 22; Idris, 21
  • 1972: Contina, 209; Keelan, 20
  • 1973: Shenika, 33; Bram, 19
  • 1974: Seandra, 31; Reuven, 18
  • 1975: Mandee, 74; Jermale, 19
  • 1976: Niya, 97; Askia, 21
  • 1977: Kizzie, 286; Kenta, 48
  • 1978: Kylene, 88; Kodi, 41
  • 1979: Ranada, 37; Emmet, 19
  • 1980: Hanni, 34; Lando, 25
  • 1981: Jennilee, 37; Tristen, 21
  • 1982: Terran, 27; Ryne, 31
  • 1983: Yomaira, 45; Drue, 16
  • 1984: Leonela, 46; Catlin, 57
  • 1985: Sharda, 70; Justn, 23
  • 1986: Faren, 85; Adison, 21
  • 1987: Conchetta, 42; Najee, 50
  • 1988: Brogan, 36; Nikko, 59
  • 1989: Kyara, 65; Rishawn, 42
  • 1990: Tichina, 25; Telvin, 47
  • 1991: Bronte, 48; Dilon, 21
  • 1992: Oneisha, 39; Levonte, 32
  • 1993: Amairany, 41; Adonnis, 23
  • 1994: Marimar, 101; Corliss, 22
  • 1995: Shatasha, 26; Tryston, 42
  • 1996: Karrington, 34; Tysheem, 20
  • 1997: Neyda, 35; Voshon, 32
  • 1998: Arrion, 29; Amere, 29
  • 1999: Karyme, 40; Neo, 24
  • 2000: Laisa, 36; Perrion, 41
  • 2001: Torrance, 40; Andrik, 46
  • 2002: Naydelin, 58; Bode, 131
  • 2003: Princesa, 70; Anden, 41
  • 2004: Jenascia, 70; Cabot, 29
  • 2005: Jolette, 258; Greco, 40
  • 2006: Akeelah, 403; Corde, 51
  • 2007: Ambrielle, 46; Osmel, 29
  • 2008: Allysson, 61; Rohaan, 18
  • 2009: Ailea, 57; Kipton, 60
  • 2010: Solara, 40; Dyland, 67
  • 2011: Harnoor, 24; Dakhari, 18
  • 2012: Hareem, 54; Lio & Wayden, 19
  • 2013: Tahiry, 112; Zylen, 27
  • 2014: Yazaira, 42; Alyan, 22
  • 2015: Pihu, 19; Jonael, 232
  • 2016: Yurani, 97; Jru, 31
  • 2017: Brennley, 56; Noriel, 50
  • 2018: Roselyne, 87; Torryn, 31
  • 2019: Yameli, 49; Amyas, 21
  • 2020: Elleri, 34; Dutton, 27
  • 2021: Josiane, 41; Elkin, 21
  • 2022: Thena, 25; Kymeir, 23
  • 2023: Lylla, 59; Yamari, 55
  • 2024: Niamani, 49; Amai, 38

I’ve already written about some of these names, and I’ll write about others in the future. In the meantime, feel free to beat me to it! Leave a comment and let us know what popularized Jory in 1950, or Marnita in 1961, or Catlin in 1984…

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from First leaves Novosibirsk Siberia 24.04.2012 by Mikhail Koninin under CC BY 2.0.

[Latest update: May 2025]