Shadie
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "shining woman" or "elegant woman".
Name Census estimates that about 103 living Americans carry the first name Shadie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Shadie today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shadie births was 1994 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shadie. 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.
People living today
103
~ 1 in 3,327,712 Americans
Peak year
1994
19 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
1987 SSA rank
#6,811
Tracked since 1916
Census
Shadie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 208 people with the first name Shadie, which placed it at #37,486 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
#37,486
National first-name rank
People counted
208
208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shadie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shadie is White at 59.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.2%) and Black (13.0%). 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 Shadie 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 Shadie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.6% · 124
- Hispanic or Latino20.2% · 42
- Black or African American13.0% · 27
- Two or more races5.3% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Shadie
Shadie leans heavily female at 86.3% of total registrations, but 16 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shadie as a male name
- Ranked #6,811 in 1987
- 6 male births in 1987
- Peak: 1987 (6 births)
Shadie as a female name
- Ranked #15,426 in 2003
- 6 female births in 2003
- Peak: 1994 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shadie on both sides of the split. Of the 209 people counted with this name, 46 were male (22.0%) and 163 were female (78.0%).
Popularity
Shadie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shadie from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 52 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Shadie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shadie 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 Shadie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shadie
The name Shadie is believed to have its origins in Arabic, derived from the word "shada" which means "to quench" or "to satisfy." It is a relatively modern name, first appearing in written records during the late 19th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shadie can be found in the writings of the Egyptian poet and scholar, Ahmed Shawqi (1868-1932). He is known to have used the name in one of his poems, though the exact context is unclear.
In the early 20th century, a prominent figure named Shadie Abdel Salam (1892-1961) rose to prominence as an Egyptian jurist and politician. He served as the Minister of Justice and played a crucial role in drafting the country's first constitution in 1923.
Another notable individual named Shadie was the Syrian-American artist and sculptor, Shadie Simaika (1923-2010). Born in Damascus, Simaika emigrated to the United States in the 1940s and became renowned for her abstract sculptures and paintings, which were heavily influenced by her Middle Eastern heritage.
In the realm of literature, the name Shadie appears in the works of the Lebanese-American poet and writer, Khalil Gibran (1883-1931). Although the character's significance is not well-documented, it is evident that Gibran was familiar with the name and its cultural context.
Moving to the modern era, one of the most recognized individuals bearing the name Shadie is the Egyptian singer and actress, Shadie (born 1967). Known for her powerful vocals and stage presence, she has contributed significantly to the Arabic music industry and has garnered a loyal fan base across the Middle East.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Shadie throughout history. While its origins can be traced back to the Arabic language, the name has transcended cultural boundaries and continues to be used in various parts of the world, carrying with it a rich tapestry of historical and cultural significance.
People
Shadie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shadie 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
Shadie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shadie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 103 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shadie 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 3,327,712 US residents.
Is Shadie a common name?
We classify Shadie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 117 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shadie most popular?
The single biggest year for Shadie was 1994, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shadie is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shadie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 208 people with the name Shadie, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,486 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 Shadie 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 Shadie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shadie on both sides of the split. Of the 209 people counted with this name, 46 were male (22.0%) and 163 were female (78.0%). 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 Shadie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shadie is White at 59.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.2%) and Black (13.0%). 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 Shadie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shadie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.6% (124 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 Shadie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shadie a female name?
Yes, 86.3% of people registered as Shadie 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 Shadie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shadie 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 Shadie 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 share the name Shadie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.