girl's name
Sharon
SHAIR-un
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 746,666
Northern Ireland
#378
2010 births
Sharon is a girl's name taken from a place rather than a person — the fertile coastal plain of Sharon in Israel, known from the rose of Sharon in the Song of Songs. It peaked in 1947 and now ranks 1252nd in the United States.
- Sharon is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 1947, when 28,590 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 18,522 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1900.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Sharon over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 23 |
| 1910s | 189 |
| 1920s | 1,160 |
| 1930s | 31,390 |
| 1940s | 221,973 |
| 1950s | 233,299 |
| 1960s | 155,408 |
| 1970s | 48,093 |
| 1980s | 16,780 |
| 1990s | 8,603 |
| 2000s | 5,182 |
| 2010s | 2,882 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,148 |
What Sharon means
Sharon means a plain, or a flat fertile place. It is a Hebrew place name rather than a personal one, so the meaning describes land rather than any quality of a person.
Where Sharon comes from
Sharon is the Hebrew Sharon, the coastal plain running between the Mediterranean and the hills of Samaria — flat, fertile and known in antiquity for its wildflowers. The phrase that carried it into English is from the Song of Songs, where the beloved calls herself a rose of Sharon, and the flower named after it in English is in fact a hibiscus with no connection to the region. The word was not used as a personal name in Hebrew tradition; American parents took it from the biblical phrase in the twentieth century, and it was briefly used for boys before becoming decisively female.
Sharon in use
Sharon peaked in the United States in 1947, when 28,590 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 661st in Scotland, 1252nd in the United States on 179 births, 2159th in England and Wales and 5623rd in France, across 746,666 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track. Our records carry it from 1900, but almost all of its use falls within forty years of the peak.
How popular is Sharon?
In 2025, Sharon was given to 179 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Sharon is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Sharon
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Sharon also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Sharon over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Sharon
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Sharon in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Sharon
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Sharon — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Sharon
What does the name Sharon mean?
A plain or flat fertile place — the coastal plain of Sharon in Israel.
Is Sharon a biblical name?
It is a biblical place name, from the rose of Sharon in the Song of Songs, rather than the name of a person in scripture.
Is the rose of Sharon a rose?
No — the flower given that English name is a hibiscus, and it has no connection to the region.
How popular is Sharon?
1252nd in the United States, down from a 1947 peak of 28,590 births.
Is Sharon a girl's or a boy's name?
Sharon is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Sharon?
Sharon has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Sharon?
Sharon is usually shortened to Shaz.
Is Sharon a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Sharon currently ranks #661 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.