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The baby name Sherry, already popular in the early 1960s, reached peak usage in 1962 specifically:

• 1964: 8,495 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 50th]
• 1963: 9,065 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 49th]
• 1962: 9,226 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 48th]
• 1961: 8,358 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 53rd]
• 1960: 8,314 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 54th]

What accounts for that sudden jump into the girls’ top 50?

The song “Sherry” by The Four Seasons, a vocal quartet led by Frankie Valli (and his distinctive falsetto).

“Sherry,” the group’s second single, was released in July of 1962. In mid-September it reached #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart (dethroning “Sheila” by Tommy Roe). It remained in the top spot for five weeks straight.

Here’s what “Sherry” sounds like:

Originally entitled “Terry,” the song was written (in about fifteen minutes) by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio. When Bob shared it with the rest of the group, the reaction was mixed: “[S]ome of the guys liked it and some didn’t.”

Unable to come to a consensus, they played it for their producer, Bob Crewe, over the phone. Crewe loved the song, but not the name. He considered replacing it with Jackie (after First Lady Jackie Kennedy) and Peri (the name of one of his record labels) before settling upon Sherry — a respelling of Cheri, the name of the daughter of one of his good friends, New York disc jockey Jack Spector.

What are your thoughts on the name Sherry? (Do you like it more or less than Sheila?)

P.S. The name’s steep rise in 1946 may be largely attributable to the baby boom, but I think a second influence was the 1946 western Abilene Town, which featured a character named Sherry (played by actress Rhonda Fleming).

Sources:

• Sherry (song) – Wikipedia
• The Four Seasons (band) – Wikipedia
• Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 15 Sept. 1962
• Shannon, Bob and John Javna. Behind the Hits. New York: Warner Books, 1986.
• Essay on “Sherry” (1962) by The Four Seasons [PDF] – Douglas E. Friedman (LOC)
• Abilene Town – Wikipedia
• SSA