# Sherman (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/sherman/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈʃɜː(ɹ)mən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 39,393 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 39,190 / 203 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

(English surname): From Middle English schereman, scherman; equivalent to shear + -man.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 8 | 4,778 |
| 1958 | 5 | 6,887 |
| 1959 | 11 | 3,997 |
| 1960 | 7 | 5,623 |
| 1962 | 5 | 7,421 |
| 1966 | 8 | 5,210 |
| 1968 | 6 | 6,891 |
| 1970 | 5 | 9,107 |
| 1971 | 6 | 8,161 |
| 1972 | 5 | 9,392 |
| 1973 | 6 | 8,249 |
| 1982 | 7 | 9,058 |
| 1985 | 7 | 9,144 |
| 1986 | 7 | 9,403 |
| 1987 | 5 | 12,961 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 40 | 2,947 |
| 2012 | 46 | 2,672 |
| 2013 | 40 | 2,885 |
| 2014 | 39 | 2,976 |
| 2015 | 42 | 2,853 |
| 2016 | 47 | 2,655 |
| 2017 | 47 | 2,667 |
| 2018 | 36 | 3,225 |
| 2019 | 36 | 3,247 |
| 2020 | 34 | 3,334 |
| 2021 | 33 | 3,484 |
| 2022 | 32 | 3,602 |
| 2023 | 19 | 5,218 |
| 2024 | 21 | 4,857 |
| 2025 | 19 | 5,169 |

## People named Sherman

- Sherman Alexie, American author and filmmaker
- Sherman Hemsley, American actor (1938–2012)
- Sherman Howard, American actor
- Sherman Adams, 67th governor of New Hampshire (1899-1986)
- Sherman Douglas, American basketball player (born 1966)
- Roger Sherman Baldwin, American politician (1793-1863)
- Sherman Augustus, American football player and actor (born 1959)
- Sherman Hamilton, Canadian basketball player (born 1972)
- Sherman Cárdenas Estupiñan, Colombian footballer
- Sherman Fairchild, American businessman (1896–1971)
- William Sherman Jennings, American politician (1863-1920)
- Sherman C. Bishop, American zoologist (1887–1951)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.