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Cheryl - This is my gp. It feels like the mid 20th century. But I can't imagine someone's grandmother named Cheryl.
Meryl - Reminds me of Meryl Streep.

This message was edited 2/12/2024, 8:32 PM

I prefer Meryl even though it's really only been used on Meryl Streep.

Don't really like either, names from the 50s or 60s

I prefer Meryl, but they're both nice.
I like the sound of Meryl a little more than Cheryl. Meryl definitely seems more glamorous and maybe even a shade stuffy, and Cheryl more girl-next-door and relaxed.
I think I'd like Cheryl more, if I didn't have an impression that it's seen as a mediocre boomer name like Lisa and Brenda and Debra. I love the name Sherry, but not Cheryl so much. But also I like Meryl a lot more than I like Marie or Mary.
Cheryl reminds me of model Cheryl Tiegs (first time I heard the name was on her, in 70s TV ads etc), and of a gal I worked with for several years in Texas who was unlike Tiegs (short, olive, mother of a large family, modest lifestyle) and was a really great person. She was born in the fifties of course.
Meryl used to remind me of Streep, but my association kinda got overwritten by an association with Meryl Davis. She is now only in her thirties. I've never met a Meryl.

They both seem dated to the 1950s. I'd have to choose Meryl, though I don't like either. But Cheryl could start with a Ch or Sh, which would be tedious for the owner.

In the mid-2000's when I was a teen I would have insisted that Cheryl was such a stuffy, olden times name. Very dated, very dull.
Then we read a book in English class called "In Search of April Raintree" that completely turned my opinion around. The book begins during the childhood of two sisters and follows them until they are adults, Cheryl being the younger sister of the titular April. Long story short the book is terribly tragic, but me being an older sister like April, I felt awful for Cheryl and wanted to protect her from a world she did not understand yet (and sadly fell victim to when she got older). I had never seen the name on a child before, I'd only ever seen it given to bland, middle-aged, WASPy type women. Seeing this name on a child breathed new life into it for me and I could finally see the purity and appeal.

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I really want Cheryl to have a renaissance, I think it looks wonderful, sweet, and innocent on a little girl.

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As for Meryl? It's...there. Once upon a time my opinion would have been the other way around, in my teens I definitely would have chosen Meryl, but Cheryl is my winner now.

Both names seem old-timey to me.

If I had to choose? Cheryl.

Meryl has the softer sound so I prefer it. Still, I'm not a fan of either.

Cheryl. Meryl feels dated in a way that won't be coming back

I strongly dislike them both