Ashira
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "she who is blessed".
Name Census estimates that about 581 living Americans carry the first name Ashira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ashira today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashira births was 2012 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashira. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ashira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
581
~ 1 in 589,939 Americans
Peak year
2012
31 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,178
Tracked since 1982
Census
Ashira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 499 people with the first name Ashira, which placed it at #20,625 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#20,625
National first-name rank
People counted
499
499 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
42.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ashira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashira is Black at 42.7%. The next largest groups are White (27.7%) and Hispanic (12.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ashira described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ashira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American42.7% · 213
- White27.7% · 138
- Hispanic or Latino12.6% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.6% · 53
- Two or more races6.4% · 32
Popularity
Ashira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashira from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 197 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Ashira remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ashira by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ashira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ashiras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Ashira, while Georgia, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ashira
The name Ashira is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language, with its roots tracing back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "shir," which means "song" or "to sing." The name Ashira is often associated with joy, music, and celebration.
In the Hebrew Bible, the word "shir" appears frequently in the Book of Psalms, which are poetic songs and hymns of praise to God. The name Ashira may have been used to honor the musical and spiritual traditions of ancient Israelite culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ashira can be found in the Book of Ezra, a text from the Hebrew Bible. Ezra 2:41 mentions a group of singers called "the children of Asaph," which some scholars believe may be a reference to individuals named Ashira or a variant spelling.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ashira. In the 12th century, Ashira bat Moshe was a renowned Jewish scholar and poet from Languedoc, France. Her works, including liturgical poems and commentaries on biblical texts, were highly regarded during her time.
In the late 19th century, Ashira Suleiman was a prominent Palestinian educator and women's rights activist. She established one of the first schools for girls in Jerusalem and played a crucial role in promoting education and empowerment for women in the region.
Another notable figure was Ashira Kaplansky, a Russian-born American composer and pianist who lived from 1888 to 1983. She was known for her contributions to modern classical music and her collaborations with renowned artists such as Martha Graham and Isadora Duncan.
In the realm of literature, Ashira Konareddi is an Indian author and journalist who has written several books and articles on topics related to culture, feminism, and social issues. Her works have been widely acclaimed and have shed light on important contemporary issues.
Ashira Varge was a prominent Australian artist and sculptor who lived from 1924 to 2009. Her works, which often explored themes of nature and the human form, were exhibited in galleries across Australia and internationally.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Ashira throughout history, each contributing to various fields and leaving their mark on society.
People
Ashira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashira as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ashira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 581 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashira going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 589,939 US residents.
Is Ashira a common name?
We classify Ashira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 590 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashira most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashira was 2012, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashira is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ashira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 499 people with the name Ashira, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,625 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ashira in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ashira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ashira appears almost entirely female. Of the 501 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ashira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashira is Black at 42.7%. The next largest groups are White (27.7%) and Hispanic (12.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ashira most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ashira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.7% (213 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ashira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ashira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ashira in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ashira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ashira in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ashira can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Ashira?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.