Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, it is used both as a masculine and a feminine given name.

Etymology

The Hebrew word simply means "plain", but in the Hebrew Bible, is the name specifically given to the fertile plain between the

Samarian Hills Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first ...

and the coast, known (tautologically) as Sharon plain in English. The phrase " rose of Sharon" (חבצלת השרון ''ḥăḇaṣṣeleṯ ha-sharon'') occurs in the KJV translation of the Song of Solomon ("I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley"), and has since been used in reference to a number of flowering plants. Unlike other unisex names that have come to be used almost exclusively as feminine (e.g.

Evelyn Evelyn may refer to: Places * Evelyn, London *Evelyn Gardens, a garden square in London * Evelyn, Ontario, Canada * Evelyn, Michigan, United States * Evelyn, Texas, United States * Evelyn, Wirt County, West Virginia, United States * Evelyn ...

), ''Sharon'' was never predominantly a masculine name. Usage before 1925 is very rare and was apparently inspired either from the Biblical toponym or one of the numerous places in the United States named after the Biblical plain.

Usage history

Use as a feminine name began in the early 20th century, first entering the statistics of the 1,000 most popularly given names in the United States in 1925. Its inspiration was possibly the heroine of the serial novel ''The Skyrocket'' by Adela Rogers St. Johns, published in 1925 and made into a

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

starring Peggy Hopkins Joyce in 1926. The name's popularity took a steep increase only in the mid-1930s, however, and peaked during the 1940s, remaining a top 10 name for most of the decade. The variant ''Sharron'' is on record during the 1930s to 1970s, with a peak popularity in the US in 1943. The more eccentric spelling ''Sharyn'' was popular only for a brief time in the 1940s, peaking in 1945. The name's popularity has steadily declined since the 1940s (except for a slight rise in the late 1950s), falling out of the top 100 after 1977, and out of the top 500 after 2001. In the United Kingdom, its popularity peaked during the 1960s. It was the 10th most popular female name by 1964 and was still as high as 17th in 1974 (when it was at rank 70 in the US), but a sharp decline in popularity followed and since the 1980s it has not featured in the top 100. While appearing on the BBC's ''

Celebrity Mastermind ''Celebrity Mastermind'' is a celebrity version of ''Mastermind'', a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. It began in 2002 as a one-off special, expanding to the current arrangement of 10 episodes, broadcast during December a ...

'', contestant Amanda Henderson was asked to name the Swedish teenage climate activist who wrote a book titled ''No One's Too Small to Make a Difference''. Henderson answered "Sharon." Following the broadcast, climate activist Greta Thunberg (the correct response to the question) changed her name to Sharon on her Twitter bio (which remained there for the day: 3 January 2020).

People with the given name

Feminine given name

* Sharon Beasley-Teague (born 1952), American politician *

Sharon Bruneau Sharon Leigh Bruneau (born February 1, 1964) is a model and retired professional Canadian female bodybuilder and fitness competitor. Early life and education Bruneau, a French-Canadian Métis, was born in the mining city of Timmins, Ontario and ...

(born 1964), Canadian female bodybuilder and fitness competitor *

Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush Sharon Dahlonega Bush (born Sharon Daisy Raiford) is an American television newscaster and print journalist."Additions Made To Newswatch 3 Staff" ''The Commercial Appeal'', February 3, 1981. She was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and resides ...

(born 1952), American TV personality * Sharon Campbell, British diplomat * Sharon Case (born 1971), American actress * Sharon Choi (born 1994/1995), Korean-American interpreter and filmmaker *Sharon Cohen (born 1972), more commonly known as Dana International, an Israeli pop singer * Sharon Corr (born 1970), Irish musician and member of The Corrs * Sharon Claydon (born 1964), Australian politician * Sharon Creech (born 1945), author of children's books ''Walk Two Moons'' and ''Ruby Holler'' * Sharon Cuneta (born 1966), Filipina actress and host of the ''Sharon'' talk show * Sharron Davies (born 1962), British swimmer * Sharon den Adel (born 1974), co-founder of and singer for Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation * Sharon Dijksma (born 1971), Dutch politician * Sharon Doorson (born 1987), Dutch singer * Sharon Epperson (born 1968), CNBC correspondent * Sharon Fichman (born 1990), Canadian/Israeli tennis player * Sharon Lee Gallegos (1955–1960), American murder victim *

Sharon Gibson Sharon Angela Gibson (born 31 December 1961 in Mapperley, Nottinghamshire) is a female retired English athlete who competed in the women's javelin throw event during her career. Athletics career Gibson twice represented Great Britain at the Sum ...

(born 1961), English javelin thrower * Sharon Hampson (born 1943), Canadian singer *

Sharon Hanson Sharon Hanson-Lowery (born September 24, 1965, in Lake Charles, Louisiana) is an American former heptathlete. Her personal best score was 6352 points, achieved in 1996. Achievements References Sharon Hansonprofile at USATF USA Track & F ...

(born 1965), American heptathlete * Sharon Hodgson (born 1966), British politician * Sharon Horgan (born 1970), Irish comedy writer *

Sharon Jaklofsky Sharon Maria Suzanne Jaklofsky (born 30 September 1968 in Brisbane, Queensland) is a retired Dutch long jumper, who was born in Australia. A former heptathlete, she represented the Netherlands at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. ...

(born 1968), Australian-Dutch athlete * Sharon Jordan (born 1960), American film and television actress *

Sharon Kips Sharon Kips (born 17 November 1983 in Amsterdam, Netherlands) is the winner of the first edition of the Dutch ''X Factor'', 24 February 2007. She was praised highly throughout the show, with high compliments from three of Holland's music experts H ...

(born 1983), Dutch singer * Sharon Lawrence (born 1961), American television actress * Sharon Leal (born 1972), American actress and director * Sharon Lee (writer) (born 1952), American novelist * Sharon G. Lee (born 1952), American judge * Sharon Lohr, American statistician * Sharon Maguire (born 1960), British film director *

Sharron McClellan Sharron McClellan (born December 19, 1963) is an American fiction writer. Born in Zaragoza, Spain, she studied anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and later settled in Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West ...

(born 1963), American action-adventure author * Sharon Lee (disambiguation) *Sharon Lee Myers (born 1941), stage name Jackie DeShannon, American singer * Sharon Needles (born 1981), American drag queen and winner of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season 4 *

Sharon Nesmith Lieutenant General Sharon Patricia Moffat Nesmith (née Moffat; born 1970) is a senior British Army officer. Since August 2022, she is serving as Deputy Chief of the General Staff. She became the first woman to command a British Army brigade in ...

(born 1969/70), Brigadier of the British Army *

Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, later Arden; born 9 October 1952) is a British-American television personality, music manager and author. She is married to heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing ...

(born 1952), English music promoter and TV personality, wife and manager of Ozzy Osbourne *

Sharon Que Sharon Que (Querciagrossa) (born May 18, 1960 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American visual artist and luthier, based in Ann Arbor, specializing in violin restoration and repair. It has been said that much of Que’s imagery can be perceived as mul ...

(born 1960), American artist *

Sharon Quirk-Silva Sharon Quirk-Silva (born September 17, 1962) is an American politician and educator serving as a member of the California State Assembly, representing the 65th Assembly District, which includes portions of northern Orange County, including La ...

(born 1962), American politician *

Sharon Redd Sharon Redd (October 19, 1945 – May 1, 1992) was an American singer from New York City. She was the half sister of Snap! singer Penny Ford. Life and career Sharon Redd was born on October 19, 1945 in Norfolk, Virginia, to Gene and Katherine Re ...

(born 1945), American singer *

Sharon Rendle Sharon Susan Rendle MBE (born 18 June 1966 in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire) is a female retired judoka from the United Kingdom. Judo career Rendle competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992, when she won a bro ...

(born 1966), British judoka * Sharon Shannon (born 1968), Irish musician * Sharon Shapiro, American gymnast *

Sharon Alaina Stephen ''Waktu Rehat'' (), also known as ''As the Bell Rings Malaysia'', is a Disney Channel Asia original television series based on the Disney Channel Italy series ''Quelli dell'intervallo''. The series follows a group of Malaysian lower secondary s ...

(born 1987), Malaysian actress * Sharon Stone (born 1958), American actress, model and producer *

Sharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she played small television roles before appearing in films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover ...

(1943–1969), American actress * Sharon Tyler Herbst (1942–2007), American chef and author * Sharon Tyler, American politician * Sharon Van Etten (born 1981), American singer-songwriter * Sharon Waxman (born c.1963), American journalist * Sharon Weston Broome (born 1956), American politician *

Sharon Witherspoon Sharon Fae Witherspoon, Lady Jowell (born 1956) is a British statistician, serving as Head of Policy of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Campaign for Social Science, and as a member of the Review Body on Senior Salaries of the British govern ...

, British statistician * Sharon White (born 1967), British businesswoman and civil servant * Sharon Yaish, Israeli film director * Sharon Zukin (born 1946), American academic *

Sharon Zukowski Sharon Zukowski (1954/55 - January 9, 2015) was an American mystery novelist. Life and career Zukowski was the creator of a series of novels featuring Blaine Stewart, a female former police officer turned private investigator who operates an agen ...

(1954/55–2015), American mystery novelist

Masculine given name

Sharon Turner Sharon Turner (24 September 1768 – 13 February 1847) was an English historian. Life Turner Was born in Pentonville, the eldest son of William and Ann Turner of Yorkshire, who had settled in London upon marrying.H. R. Loyn,Turner, Sharon ...

(1768–1847), English historian *

Sharon Tyndale Sharon Tyndale (January 19, 1816 – April 29, 1871) was an American politician and designer who was the Secretary of State of Illinois, from 1865 to 1869. His tenure is notable for his redesign of the Great Seal of the State of Illinois. Bac ...

(1816–1871), American politician *

Sharon Rotbard Sharon Rotbard (Hebrew שרון רוטברד) (born October 2, 1959), is an Israeli architect, publisher and author, senior lecturer at the Architecture department in the Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem. Biography Sharon Rotbard was born in Tel Aviv. H ...

(born 1959), Israeli architect publisher and author * Sharon Drucker (born 1967), Israeli professional basketball coach * Sharon Shason (born 1979), retired Israeli basketball player *

Sharon Afek Sharon Afek ( he, שרון אפק; born August 10, 1970) is the Deputy Attorney General (Director of Legal Counsel and Legislative Affairs) in the Israel's Ministry of Justice. Previously, Afek was the chief military advocate general of the Israel ...

(born 1970), Israeli general * Sharon Yaari (born 1966), Israeli photographer

People with the surname

Sharon was adopted as a surname by Zionist emigrants in the context of the

Hebrew revival The revival of the Hebrew language took place in Europe and Palestine toward the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century, through which the language's usage changed from the sacred language of Judaism to a spoken and written language u ...

in the early 20th century, and has since become a heritable Israeli surname. * Arieh Sharon (born Ludwig Kurzmann, 1900–1984), Israeli architect *

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

(born Ariel Scheinermann, 1928–2014), Israeli Prime Minister. Scheinermann was given the surname Sharon by David Ben-Gurion in c. 1948.Freedland, Jonathan (January 3, 2014)
"Ariel Sharon's final mission might well have been peace"
The Guardian. ("his name was given to him by Israel's founding father, David Ben-Gurion – turning the young Scheinerman into Sharon") *

Avraham Sharon Avraham Sharon ( he, אברהם שרון; September 10, 1878 – October 17, 1957) was an Israeli philosopher, musician, scholar and publicist. Sharon established the Autographs and Portraits Collection in the National Library of Israel. Biograp ...

(born Abraham Schwadron, 1878–1957), Israeli intellectual * Moshe Sharon (born 1937), Israeli scholar of Islamic history and civilization, author i.a. of the ''Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae'', a work in progress planned to contain all ancient Arabic inscriptions found in the Holy Land * Omri Sharon (born 1964), Israeli politician, son of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon *

Revital Sharon Revital Sharon ( he, רויטל שרון; born December 2, 1970) is an Israeli former Olympic artistic gymnast. At the age of 11, in 1982 Sharon won a gold medal at the International Workers’ Games in Italy. In 1988, Sharon was Israel's Nationa ...

(born 1970), Israeli Olympic artistic gymnast * Yuval Sharon, American stage director *

Carma Sharon Carma Sharon ( he, כרמית שרון, ) is an actress, director and producer, based in Sydney, Australia. She played the title role in the 2018 film ''iBOT''. Life and career Carma was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her father was a theatrical ac ...

, Australian actress, director and producer

Pseudonym

* Deke Sharon, stage name of Kurk Richard Toohey (born 1967), American singer, musician, producer

Fictional characters

*Sharon (シャロン), a character from the '' Street Fighter EX'' series * Sharon Carter, a Marvel Comics character *

Sharon Collins Newman Sharon Newman is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network, currently portrayed by Sharon Case. Created by William J. Bell as a love interest for Nicholas Newman, the character debuted o ...

, a character in the daytime soap opera ''The Young and The Restless'' *Sharon Cooper, a character in the 1982 musical film '' Grease 2'' *

Sharon Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

, a ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' magazine character *Sharon Jellinsky, a minor character in the film Addams Family Values *Sharon Kaneko, supporting character in anime and manga series

Space Brothers (manga) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chūya Koyama. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Morning'' since December 2007. A 99-episode anime television series adaptation by A-1 Pictures aired fro ...

* Sharon Kaur, a character played by Jez Dhillon in the British web series ''Corner Shop Show'' * Sharon Marsh, a character on ''South Park'' * Sharon McGee, a character from '' The Ghost and Molly McGee'' *Sharon Potter, a character from the American TV sitcom '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) *Sharon Rainworth, a character in the manga and anime series Pandora Hearts *

Sharon Strzelecki Sharon Karen Strzelecki is an accident-prone fictional character on the Australian comedy series ''Kath & Kim'' and is portrayed by Australian actress Magda Szubanski. The character first appeared in "Big Girl's Blouse" in 1994 alongside the ot ...

, a character from ''Kath & Kim'' *Sharon Esther Spitz, the protagonist of the Canadian animated TV series '' Braceface'' *

Sharon Valerii Number Eight is a female humanoid Cylon model on the television series ''Battlestar Galactica'', a reimagining of the classic show of the same name. She is portrayed by Grace Park. Two prominent Number Eight copies serving as '' Galactica'' ...

, a character from ''Battlestar Galactica'' *Rose of Sharon Joad Rivers, a character from '' The Grapes of Wrath'' * Sharon Rai Prakash, a character from the Indian seris ''Dil Dosti Dance'' *

Sharon Watts Sharon Watts (also Rickman, Mitchell and Beale) is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Letitia Dean. Sharon is one of ''EastEnders'' original characters conceptualised by creators Tony Holland and Juli ...

, a character from the British soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

Placenames

* Sharon, Ontario, Canada * Sharon, Connecticut * Sharonville, Ohio * Sharon, Pennsylvania *

Sharon Springs, New York Sharon Springs is a village in Schoharie County, New York, United States. The population was 558 at the 2010 census. Its name derives from the hometown of the first Colonial settlers, Sharon, Connecticut, and the important springs in the vill ...

* Sharon Springs, Kansas * Sharon, Massachusetts *

Sharon, New Jersey Sharon is an unincorporated community located within Upper Freehold Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.Sharon, Vermont *

Sharon, South Carolina Sharon is a town in southwestern York County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 494 at the 2010 census. History The Hill Complex Historic District, W.L. Hill Store, and Sharon Downtown Historic District are listed on the National ...

* Sharon, Georgia * Sharon, North Dakota *

Sharon, Queensland Sharon is a rural locality in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Sharon had a population of 1,316 people. Geography The locality is bounded to the north and east by Splitters Creek and to the south by the Burnett River. Shar ...

, Australia

References

{{given name, type=both Given names Feminine given names Masculine given names English given names English feminine given names Jewish given names Hebrew-language surnames