Explore the Family Name Cherif

The meaning of Cherif

Muslim (North Africa): French-influenced variant of Sharif or Sherif.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Cherif in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Cherif saw a significant increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Cherif ranked 96,918 in popularity, however, by 2010, it had climbed to 59,324, a change of 38.79%. When it comes to the number of people bearing the surname, there was an almost 96% increase in count during this period - from 174 in 2000 to 341 in 2010. This indicates that for every 100,000 people, the proportion with the surname Cherif doubled from 0.06 to 0.12.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#96,918	#59,324	38.79%
Count	174	341	95.98%
Proportion per 100k	0.06	0.12	100%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Cherif

The Decennial U.S. Census also reveals interesting shifts in the ethnic identity associated with the surname Cherif. In 2000, the largest groups were those identifying as White (41.95%) and Black (45.40%). By 2010, while the percentage of those identifying as Black increased to 51.61%, the percentage of Whites slightly decreased to 39.88%. However, the most noticeable changes were seen in the categories of Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic, which reported no individuals in 2000 but showed a presence in 2010 with 2.64% and 3.23%, respectively. On the contrary, the group reporting two or more races saw a decrease from 10.34% in 2000 to 2.64% in 2010. The data for American Indian and Alaskan Native remained constant, with no individuals reporting this ethnicity in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	45.4%	51.61%	13.68%
White	41.95%	39.88%	-4.93%
Hispanic	0%	3.23%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	2.64%	0%
Two or More Races	10.34%	2.64%	-74.47%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%