Given name & surname

Cherif

Cherif is a given name from Arabic. It is used in French.

Meaning & origin

Where it comes from

Cherif comes from Arabic.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How it developed

From Arabic شريف.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2009. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Cherif through the years

Babies since 1880
65
65 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year
2025
9 babies
2025
9
#8,377 for boys
2021–25 vs 2016–20
+100%
Rising fast
02462025Highest share 20255.3
Cherif in U.S. Social Security birth records, 2009–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,377 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 258 as a first name in 2020; 465 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Cherif’s family of names

Cherif may belong to the same name family as CHERIFF. This is a tentative spelling connection.

Walk Cherif’s family in the name graph

CherifChérifCheriff

Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 1

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Spellings & scripts 1

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Similar names

If you love Cherif, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Arabic · Modern

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Asil

Asil is a masculine given name from Ottoman Turkish, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in Turkish.

22RareRising fast

87% boys · 13% girls

Hebrew · Modern

Younus

Younus is a surname from Arabic, ultimately from Hebrew.

21RareRising fast

>99% boys

Arabic · Modern

Zeyn

Zeyn is a masculine given name from Arabic. It is used in Azerbaijani.

14Very rareRising fast

>99% boys

Persian · Modern

Sardar

Sardar is a surname from Persian.

11Very rare

>99% boys

Arabic · Modern

Usmon

Usmon is a masculine given name from Chagatai, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in Uzbek.

19Very rareRising fast

>99% boys

Arabic · Modern

Abdulhamid

Abdulhamid is a masculine given name from Arabic. It is used in Hausa.

17Very rareEasing

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Cherif’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Cherif

A sister for Cherif