Cheryl

Cheryl, occasionally spelt Cheryll, is a female given name common in English-speaking countries.

There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from Latin cara, "beloved"; see also Carissa (name)) or the Welsh name Carys (a cognate of "Cara"), modelled on names such as Meryl and Beryl that were popular during the early decades of the 20th century.

A less popular theory is that the name is Germanic in origin and is a feminine version of the Germanic male name Charles, which means "free man".

Notable people with the first name include:

Cheryl

 * Cheryl (singer), formerly known as Cheryl Cole, English singer and television personality
 * Cheryl A. M. Anderson, American epidemiologist
 * Cheryl Arutt, American actress and psychologist
 * Cheryl Baker, British television presenter and former musician
 * Cheryl Barker, Australian operatic soprano
 * Cheryl Bentov, Israeli Mossad agent
 * Cheryl Bernard, Canadian Olympic curler
 * Cheryl Brown (educator), New Zealand education academic
 * Cheryl Burke, professional dancer
 * Cheryl Campbell, British actress
 * Cheryl Carolus, South African politician
 * Cheryl Casone, American journalist
 * Cheryl Chase (activist), American intersex activist
 * Cheryl Chase (actress), American voice actress
 * Cheryl Chase (politician), American politician
 * Cheryl Chin, Singaporean-American actress
 * Cheryl Cosim, Filipino news anchor
 * Cheryl Crane, daughter of actress Lana Turner who was tried for the murder of her mother's boyfriend
 * Cheryl Dunye, Liberian-American film director, screenwriter and actress
 * Cheryl Fergison, British actress
 * Cheryl Ford, American basketball player
 * Cheryl J. Franklin, American writer
 * Cheryl Gallant, Canadian politician
 * Cheryl Gamble Clemons, American singer, known as Coko
 * Cheryl Gillan, British politician
 * Cheryl Golek, American politician
 * Cheryl A. Gray Evans, Louisiana politician
 * Cheryl Hall, British actress
 * Cheryl Hickey, Canadian TV presenter
 * Cheryl Hines, American actress
 * Cheryl Holdridge, American actress
 * Cheryl Hole, British drag queen
 * Cheryl James, American rapper, known as Salt
 * Cheryl Keeton, U.S. lawyer and murder victim
 * Cheryl Kennedy, English actress
 * Cheryl Kernot, Australian politician
 * Cheryl Ladd, American actress and singer
 * Cheryl Lynn, American singer
 * Cheryl L. McAfee (born c. 1958), African American architect
 * Cheryl Gates McFadden, American actress and choreographer
 * Cheryl Miller, American basketball player
 * Cheryl Miller (actress), American actress
 * Cheryl Perera, Sri Lankan Canadian children's rights activist
 * Cheryl Rixon, Australian actor and model
 * Cheryl Rubenberg, American researcher
 * Cheryl J. Sanders, African-American womanist scholar and ethicist
 * Cheryl Stone, South African-born co-founder of Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous dance company in Australia
 * Cheryl Strayed, American author
 * Cheryl Studer, American operatic soprano
 * Cheryl Tiegs, American model
 * Cheryl Valentine, Scottish field hockey midfielder
 * Cheryl Wall, American literary critic
 * Cheryl West, American playwright
 * Cheryl Wheeler, American singer

Cheryll

 * Cheryll Greene (1943–2013), American editor and scholar
 * Cheryll Heinze (1946–2012), American politician, Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives
 * Cheryll Toney Holley, American historian and chief of the Nipmuc Nation
 * Cheryll Sotheran (1945–2017), New Zealand museum professional
 * Cheryll Tickle (born 1945), British scientist

Cherryl

 * Cherryl Fountain (born 1950), English still life, landscape and botanical artist
 * Cherryl Walker, professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Stellenbosch University

Fictional characters

 * Cheryl, a character in the animated series Adventure Time episode "Dark Purple"
 * Cheryl, a supporting character in the suspense novel Bird Box
 * Cheryl Blossom, Archie Comics character
 * Cheryl Mason, a recurring character in the Silent Hill series