Given name & surname
Kerri
“having black hair”
Kerri is a variant of Kerry. One interpretation is “having black hair.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Kerri is a variant of Kerry. One interpretation is “having black hair.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Kerri is a form of Kerry. Kerry has more than one origin: as an English surname, it comes from Old Norse Kári; as an Irish surname, it goes back to a word meaning “descendant of Ciardha”.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1945. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kerri through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 37,369
- 348 boys · 37,021 girls
- Most popular year
- 1975
- 1,616 babies
- 2025
- 10
- #9,787 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −48%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 10 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 9,787 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 47.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 1,597 in 1975. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 33,369 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Kerri’s family of names
Kerri has a related form in Kerry. In Greek usage, Kerri as a surname is a transliteration of Κέρρι.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
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.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Kerri
- Kerri Walsh JenningsAmerican professional beach volleyball playerborn 1978
- Kerri WilliamsNew Zealand rowerborn 1993
- Kerri StrugAmerican gymnastborn 1977
- Kerri GreenAmerican actressborn 1967
- Kerri PottharstAustralian volleyball playerborn 1965
- Kerri Kenney-SilverAmerican actress and musicianborn 1970
- Kerri HoskinsAmerican actress and modelborn 1970
- Kerri ChandlerAmerican disc jockey and musicianborn 1969
- Karri McMahonAustralian field hockey playerborn 1992
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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