My name is Cheryl which is one syllable, with only one vowel. I was named after my great grandmother because in the Jewish religion, you are to name your children after the most recent family member who has passed away. Her name was Clara. People tend to struggle with spelling my name as it is pronounced a little differently then it would normally be spelled. If I could spell it the way it's pronounced, it would be "Sherrull".
Nobody really has my name these days, which has a bright and downside to it. It's a bit of an old person's name. I've only come across women who are past their 60s with my name. Either that, or people relatively close to my age have it spelt, "Sheryl". After doing some research, it has come to my attention that my name was most prevalent during the Cold War period.
I've noticed that the people I've come across from different countries have different and interesting sounds of my name. In an Israeli accent, my name sounds like "share-real".
Cheryl is not really a name that can take nicknames unless it's Cher or Chery (pronounced "sherry") but I've always felt weird using them as alternate names.
My name is seemingly not a unisex name, or at least I have not met any male Cheryls. However there are male Meryls, a few in which I’ve met.
There are a few tentative meanings of my name: dear, beloved and friend. These meanings make me proud to have my name aside from the uniqueness and rarity of it.
It was interesting to read about the Jewish naming custom; I never knew that before! As for people past their 60s having your name, I wouldn't pay it any mind. Names come and go in cycles, and I think it's about time some of the beautiful names from the past come back into vogue.
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