plain
In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...
'), also spelled Saron, is a
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...
as well as a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
name.
In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, it is used as both.
Etymology
The Hebrew word simply means "plain", as in a flat area of land. But in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Samarian Hills 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 Songs ("I am the rose of Sharon, the
lily of the valley
Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' ), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...
"), and has since been used in reference to a number of flowering plants.
Unlike other
unisex name
A unisex name (also known as an epicene name, a gender-neutral name or an androgynous name) is a given name that is not gender-specific. Unisex names are common in the English-speaking world, especially in the United States. By contrast, some co ...
s that have come to be used almost exclusively as feminine (e.g. Evelyn), ''Sharon'' was never predominantly a masculine name. Usage before 1925 is very rare and was apparently inspired either by 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 common given names in the United States in 1925. Its inspiration was possibly the heroine of Adela Rogers St. Johns's serial novel ''The Skyrocket'', published in 1925 and made into a
romantic drama film
Romance films 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. Typically their ...
starring Peggy Hopkins Joyce in 1926.
The name's popularity in the U.S. steeply increased in the mid-1930s. ''Sharon'' peaked during the 1940s and remained a top-10 name for most of that decade. The variant ''Sharron'' is on record from the 1930s to the 1970s. Its peak popularity in the U.S. was in 1943. The more eccentric spelling ''Sharyn'' was popular for a brief time in the 1940s and peaked in 1945.
The name's popularity has steadily declined since the 1940s, except for a slight rise in the late 1950s. It fell out of the top 100 after 1977, out of the top 500 after 2001, and out of the top 1,000 names for American girls after 2016.
In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, 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 70th in the U.S.), but a sharp decline in popularity followed. Since the 1980s, the name has not been in the top 100. Names that
rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...
with Sharon, such as Darren and Karen, were also popular in the
Anglosphere
The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...
during the same period.
In the 1980s, ''Sharon'' was
stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...
d as a " chav" name in the United Kingdom, signifying a working-classteenage girl who works in a
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
. By the 2010s, the name had become associated with
meme
A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...
has been attributed to
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...
and age discrimination and caused difficulty for women named Sharon.
While appearing on the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Greta Thunberg
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...
(the correct response to the question) changed her name to Sharon on her
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
bio (which remained there for the day: 3 January 2020).
People with the given name
Feminine given name
* Sharon Aguilar (born 1986), American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter.
* Sharon Azrieli, Canadian singer and cantor
* Sharon Barker (1949–2023), Canadian-American women's rights activist, advocate, and feminist
* Sharon Beasley-Teague (born 1952), American politician
* Sharon Begley (1956–2021), American journalist
*
* Sharon Berry, British charity founder
* Sharon Bird (born 1962), Australian politician
* Sharon Blady, Canadian politician
* Sharon Block, several people
* Sharon Bowles (born 1953), British politician
* Sharon Bridgforth (born 1958), American writer
* Sharon Bruneau (born 1964), Canadian female bodybuilder and fitness competitor
* Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush (born 1952), American TV personality
* Sharon Butler (born 1959), American artist and arts writer
* Sharon Calahan, American cinematographer
* Sharon Campbell, British diplomat
* Sharon Carr (born 1979), Belizean-British murderer
* Sharon Case (born 1971), American actress
* Sharon Chan (born 1979), Hong Kong actress and model
* Sharon Cheslow (born 1961), American singer-songwriter and artist
* Sharon Cheung, Hong Kong journalist and entrepreneur
* Sharon Cherop (born 1984), Kenyan long-distance runner
* Sharon Chirwa, Malawian author and television personality
* Sharon Choi (born 1994/1995), Korean-American interpreter and filmmaker
* Sharon Christian (1950–2015), Canadian artist
* Sharon Church (1948–2022), American studio jeweler, metalsmith, and educator
* Sharon D. Clarke (born 1966), English actress and singer
* Sharon Claydon (born 1964), Australian politician
*Sharon Cohen (born 1972), more commonly known as Dana International, an Israeli pop singer
* Sharon Core (born 1965), American artist and photographer
* Sharon Corr (born 1970), Irish musician and member of The Corrs
* 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
* Sharon Davis, several people
* Sharon Day-Monroe (born 1985), American heptathlete, pentathlete and high jumper
*
Sharon den Adel
Sharon Janny den Adel (born 12 July 1974) is a Dutch singer who is the lead vocalist of the symphonic metal band Within Temptation. She has been performing since age 14, and co-founded Within Temptation with partner Robert Westerholt in 1996. S ...
Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers; August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and radio broadcaster who has had many hit song credits beginning in the 1960s, as both a singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-son ...
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
* Sharon Afek (born 1970), Israeli general
* Sharon Cohen (born 1968), Israeli dub actor and translator
* Sharon Drucker (born 1967), Israeli professional basketball coach
*
Sharon Rotbard
Sharon Rotbard (Hebrew language, 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 bo ...
(born 1959), Israeli architect publisher and author
* Sharon Shason (born 1979), retired Israeli basketball player
*
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. He left school at fifteen to ...
(1768–1847), English historian
* Sharon Tyndale (1816–1871), American politician
* 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 in the early 20th century, and has since become a heritable Israeli surname.
* Arieh Sharon (born Ludwig Kurzmann, 1900–1984), Israeli architect
* Ariel Sharon (born Ariel Scheinermann, 1928–2014), Israeli prime minister.
David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
gave him the surname "Sharon" 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 (born Abraham Schwadron, 1878–1957), Israeli intellectual
* Carma Sharon, Australian actress, director, and producer
*
* 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 Ariel Sharon
* Revital Sharon (born 1970), Israeli Olympic artistic gymnast
* Tomer Sharon (born 1970), Israeli actor, standup comedian and singer
*
* Yuval Sharon, American stage director
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, a character in the 1981 American made-for-television movie '' Fallen Angel''
*Sharon, a character in the 2001 American made-for-television drama movie '' A Girl Thing''
*Sharon Baker, a character in the 2015 American comedy-drama movie '' The Breakup Girl''
*Sharon Bates, a character in the 2002 American comedy '' Hollywood Ending''
*Sharon Benson, in Argentine Disney Channel telenovela '' Soy Luna''
* Sharon Carter, a Marvel Comics character
*Sharon Charles, main character of the 2009 film '' Obsessed''
* Sharon Collins Newman, a character in the daytime soap opera ''The Young and The Restless''
*Sharon Cooper, a character in the 1982 musical film '' Grease 2''
* Sharon Davies, a character in the Australian soap opera ''
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' magazine character
*Sharon Jellinsky, a minor character in the film '' Addams Family Values''
*Sharon Kaneko, a supporting character in the anime and manga series '' Space Brothers (manga)''
* 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 McKendrick, one of the two main characters in the 1961 American romantic comedy '' The Parent Trap''
* Sharon Newman, fictional character from ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...
''
*Sharon Norbury, in '' Mean Girls''
*Sharon Potter, a character on the American TV sitcom '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992)
*Sharon Rainworth, a character in the manga and anime series '' Pandora Hearts''
* Sharon Strzelecki, a character from ''Kath & Kim''
*Sharon Esther Spitz, the protagonist of the Canadian animated TV series '' Braceface''
*Sharon Thompson (born 1983), a character created by The Agent in early 2023. She is the mother of late Shelby Thompson
* Sharon Valerii, 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 series ''Dil Dosti Dance''
* Sharon Watts, a character from the British soap opera ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a British television 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 East End of London, the ...