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Cher

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Short form of Cheryl

Cher has been given to 1,831 babies in the U.S. since 1948. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1972, with 235 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 94% girls, 6% boys all-time.

Babies named Cher, 2024

1 in 557,000

Cher over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Cher over time

In 2024, Cher went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19482024

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Cher: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Cheryl

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Cher means

Cher is a short form of Cheryl.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Cher is used in English.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈʃɛɹ/ and /ˈʃɛə/ for Cher.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Cheryl and Cherilyn.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Cher is pronounced /ʃɛɹ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,721 girls were recorded with the name Cher between 1948 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 235 in 1972; its best national rank was #651 in 1972.

In the United States, 110 boys were recorded with the name Cher between 1981 and 1996. Its highest annual count was 16 in 1991; its best national rank was #3,657 in 1991.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Cher?

Cher had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024
1 in 557,000
6 of 3,342,801 births
Among girls only
1 in 270,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2024
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
386,177 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cher sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2024 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 386,177 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cher. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Chers were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cher was born before 1972 — so the typical Cher is around 53 today.

Median birth year
1972
About 53 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
56.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
3.9%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
1,716
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 56.0% of all recorded uses (964).

Is Cher rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1972 (235)
Years since peak
53
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#651
1972

Spellings of Cher

Cher is not the most common spelling — Cheryl is, with 61.9% against Cher's 0.24%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Cher is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Cher was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 207,355 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 100,000
  3. 3Louisiana1 in 100,000
  4. 4Ohio1 in 100,000
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 100,000
  6. 6Arizona1 in —
  7. 7Colorado1 in —
  8. 8Connecticut1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Cher has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Cher is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Cher was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 564,529 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Wisconsin1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Cher has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Cher around the world

Where Cher ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2015
    #5,730
    in 2015
  • Scotland
    1979–1991
    #634
    in 1991
  • South Australia
    1966–2000
    #727
    in 2000

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Cher by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#651
1972
Peak year
1972
235 that year
First recorded
1948
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
1,721
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,657
1991
Peak year
1991
16 that year
First recorded
1981
Last recorded
1996
All-time count
110
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cher

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ChevyChenoaChelsyAsherChereCheyannChelsiMeherChesneyChereeCheryChelsaChelaCheraCherlyCherilynCheeCherokeeCherryChelseCherlChelseeCherrylChe

Sibling names for Cher

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Cher

Top names of 1972, Cher's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1972Girls' names starting with C