Shadi
A feminine Arabic name meaning "beautiful singer" or "song of joy".
Name Census estimates that about 929 living Americans carry the first name Shadi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Shadi today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shadi births was 1995 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shadi. 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 Shadi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
929
~ 1 in 368,950 Americans
Peak year
1995
43 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,700
Tracked since 1975
Census
Shadi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,132 people with the first name Shadi, which placed it at #7,226 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
#7,226
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,132 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shadi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shadi is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Shadi 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 Shadi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 1,827
- Two or more races5.4% · 115
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 99
- Black or African American2.7% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Shadi
Shadi is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 958 total registrations, 711 (74.2%) were male and 247 (25.8%) were female.
Shadi as a male name
- Ranked #9,700 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1983 (27 births)
Shadi as a female name
- Ranked #18,700 in 2015
- 5 female births in 2015
- Peak: 1995 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shadi on both sides of the split. Of the 2,141 people counted with this name, 1,270 were male (59.3%) and 871 were female (40.7%).
Popularity
Shadi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shadi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 319 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shadi 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 Shadi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shadis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Shadi, while New Jersey, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shadi
The name Shadi has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word 'shadee' which means joyful, delightful, or pleasant. This name has been in use for centuries, dating back to the early days of Islam.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Shadi can be found in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. In the Qur'an, the word 'shadee' is used to describe the pleasant and delightful nature of Paradise.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Shadi. One of the most famous was Shadi ibn al-Fadl, a 9th-century Arab poet and scholar from Baghdad. He was renowned for his eloquence and mastery of the Arabic language.
Another prominent figure with the name Shadi was Shadi al-Asad, a 12th-century Syrian ruler and military leader. He played a significant role in defending the city of Damascus against the Crusaders.
In the 13th century, there was a Persian scholar and scientist named Shadi al-Din al-Tusi. He made important contributions to the fields of astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy.
Moving forward in time, one of the most famous modern figures with the name Shadi was Shadi Abdalla Musallam, a Sudanese singer and musician who was active in the 20th century. He was known for his fusion of traditional Sudanese music with modern influences.
Another notable Shadi was Shadi Ghanim, an Iraqi writer and journalist who lived during the 20th century. He was a prominent figure in the Iraqi literary scene and known for his novels and short stories that explored themes of identity and social issues.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Shadi. This name, with its roots in the Arabic language and culture, has a rich history and has been carried by poets, rulers, scholars, and artists across various eras and regions.
People
Shadi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shadi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shadi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shadi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 929 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shadi 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 368,950 US residents.
Is Shadi a common name?
We classify Shadi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 958 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shadi most popular?
The single biggest year for Shadi was 1995, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shadi is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shadi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,132 people with the name Shadi, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,226 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 Shadi 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 Shadi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shadi on both sides of the split. Of the 2,141 people counted with this name, 1,270 were male (59.3%) and 871 were female (40.7%). 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 Shadi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shadi is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Shadi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shadi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (1,827 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 Shadi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shadi a male name?
Yes, 74.2% of people registered as Shadi in the SSA data are male. 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 Shadi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shadi 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 Shadi 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 Shadi?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Shadi, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.