Comments (Meaning / History Only)

I think there is a third origin which may be even more important for this name. There is an Irish surname Sherry which is derived, according to MacLysaght, from the word "searrach" meaning "foal". The first examples of people with the given name Sherry in the US census are men, not women, the first example being Sherry Greenage in the 1790 census of Maryland. Maryland was one of the states where families with the surname Sherry also occur in 1790.In wasn't until about 1890 that there are examples of girls named Sherry. It looks to me like Sherry was a rare male name before 1890, and then was adopted as a female name because of its similarity in sound to Shirley and Terry, which were surnames which were established as female given names before Sherry was. I think Sherry and Cherie became popular are the same time because their sound fit in with the fashions of the day. I don't think either of them was derived from the other, but that they naturally became confused early on, leading to blended spellings like Sherie, Sheree, etc. [noted -ed]
I guess this could also be a nickname for Sharon.
Sherry is a Spanish fortified wine, derived from the Jerez region.
In most texts, I've found that Sherry (my name) means "cherished".

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