Shafee
A masculine Arabic name meaning intercessor or one who pleads.
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Shafee. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shafee today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shafee births was 2002 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shafee. 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 Shafee with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shafee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
2002
8 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2002 SSA rank
#8,317
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Shafee: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Shafee 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 Shafee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Shafee
The name Shafee has its origins in Arabic and Islamic culture, tracing back to the 7th century AD. It is derived from the Arabic word "shafi," which means "healing" or "curing." The name is associated with the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence, one of the four major Sunni schools of thought founded by the revered scholar Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (767-820 AD).
In the Islamic tradition, the name Shafee carries a spiritual connotation, implying the bearer's role as a healer or intercessor. It is often given to individuals with the hope that they will possess the qualities of compassion, wisdom, and the ability to provide solace and guidance to others.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Shafee can be found in historical Islamic texts and records from the 8th and 9th centuries AD. One notable figure bearing this name was Shafee ibn Ali al-Husayni (1119-1188 AD), a prominent Shafi'i scholar and jurist from Baghdad.
Throughout history, several influential individuals have carried the name Shafee. Shafee Qadri (1529-1595 AD) was a renowned Sufi scholar and poet from the Indian subcontinent, known for his spiritual teachings and devotional poetry. Shafee Ahmad Khan (1856-1926 AD) was a prominent Muslim leader and educator in British India, who played a significant role in the establishment of the Aligarh Muslim University.
Shafee Abdul Qadir (1914-1986 AD) was a respected Islamic scholar and author from Sri Lanka, who made notable contributions to the study of Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy. Shafee Mohamed Ibrahim (1924-1998 AD) was a Maldivian politician and diplomat, who served as the Vice President of the Maldives from 1968 to 1978.
Another noteworthy figure was Shafee Siddiq (1944-2020 AD), a renowned Bangladeshi academic and writer, who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dhaka and was awarded the Ekushey Padak, one of the highest civilian honors in Bangladesh, for his contributions to literature and education.
People
Shafee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shafee 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
Shafee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shafee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shafee 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Shafee a common name?
We classify Shafee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shafee most popular?
The single biggest year for Shafee was 2002, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shafee is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Shafee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shafee a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shafee 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 Shafee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shafee 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 Shafee 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Shafee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.