Cherie

About Cherie

Cherie comes from French chérie, meaning “darling.” Its affectionate meaning is joined by a familiar two-syllable sound and several related English spellings. Author Cherie Dimaline and campaigner Cherie Blair give it substantial contemporary connections with literature and women's economic independence.

Meaning and pronunciation

The French word chérie is a feminine term of affection. As a given name in English, Cherie usually appears without the accent, while retaining the connection with “darling.”

Cheri, Sherry, Cheryl, and Sheree belong to its related spelling group. Cher is an established shorter form. The different endings give the family considerable visual variety.

In English, Cherie can be pronounced SHER-ee or shuh-REE. The first places emphasis at the beginning, while the second gives the final syllable more prominence. The spelling alone therefore does not settle which stress a bearer uses.

Its ch has an sh sound, reflecting the French connection rather than the ch heard in chair. Both common English readings keep the name to two syllables.

Cherie Dimaline and fiction

Cherie Dimaline is an author from the Georgian Bay Métis Community. Her novel The Marrow Thieves imagines a future in which most people have lost the ability to dream.

Indigenous people are hunted because their bone marrow holds the key to restoring that ability. Frenchie and his companions travel north, trying to remain hidden and survive.

The story brings environmental destruction together with the threats facing a community determined to preserve its people and knowledge. Its young characters' struggle makes the speculative setting a story about relationships as well as survival.

The Marrow Thieves won the Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature, text, in 2017. It also received the Kirkus Prize for young readers' literature. Dimaline continued the story in Hunting by Stars, published in 2021.

Her work gives Cherie a prominent connection with contemporary Indigenous literature and young-adult fiction.

Cherie Blair and women's enterprise

Cherie Blair established the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women in 2008 to support women entrepreneurs in low- and middle-income countries.

The foundation's work developed through mentoring, business-skills programs, and technology. Its Mentoring Women in Business program launched in 2011, followed by an early business-skills mobile app in 2012.

HerVenture, another business-skills app, launched in Vietnam in 2018. These initiatives connect the name with practical efforts to help women build and sustain businesses.

Blair's legal career and the foundation's international work give Cherie a public association distinct from Dimaline's fiction, while both women use the same first-name spelling.

American popularity

Cherie's largest published annual count for girls in the United States came in 1970, with 1,002 births. Its strongest ranking was #274 in 1967.

There were 31 girls named Cherie in 2000 and 22 in 2010. In 2025, twelve girls received it, ranking #8,468, making this spelling much less common than during its mid-century high.

How popular is Cherie?

In 2025, Cherie ranked #8,468 among girls in the United States, with 12 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1910; its largest annual count was 1,002 in 1970. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.