Cheryl, occasionally spelt Cheryll, is a female given name common in English-speaking countries.
There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from Latin cara, "beloved"; see also Carissa (name)) or the Welsh name Carys (a cognate of "Cara"), modelled on names such as Meryl and Beryl that were popular during the early decades of the 20th century.[citation needed]
A less popular theory is that the name is Germanic in origin and is a feminine version of the Germanic male name Charles, which means "free man".[better source needed]

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