Shaheer
An Arabic masculine name meaning "famous" or "renowned person".
Name Census estimates that about 429 living Americans carry the first name Shaheer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shaheer today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaheer births was 2005 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaheer. 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 Shaheer with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
429
~ 1 in 798,961 Americans
Peak year
2005
22 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,837
Tracked since 1994
Census
Shaheer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 494 people with the first name Shaheer, which placed it at #20,791 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
#20,791
National first-name rank
People counted
494
494 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
82.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaheer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaheer is Asian/Pacific Islander at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Black (6.5%) and White (5.1%). 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 Shaheer 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 Shaheer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander82.4% · 407
- Black or African American6.5% · 32
- White5.1% · 25
- Two or more races4.5% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Shaheer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaheer from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 170 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Shaheer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaheer 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 Shaheer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaheers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Virginia recorded the most babies named Shaheer, while Virginia, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaheer
Shaheer is a Arabic name that originated in the Middle East and North Africa region. It is derived from the Arabic word "shaher," which means "famous" or "well-known." The name has been in use for centuries and is believed to have first appeared in ancient Arabic texts and literature.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Shaheer can be found in the writings of the famous Arab poet and philosopher Al-Mutanabbi, who lived in the 10th century AD. He is believed to have mentioned the name in one of his poems, which suggests that it was in use during that time period.
In the 12th century, there was a prominent Islamic scholar and jurist named Shaheer al-Din al-Baghdadi, who lived in Baghdad, Iraq. He was known for his contributions to the field of Islamic law and is considered one of the most influential scholars of his time.
Another notable figure with the name Shaheer was Shaheer Khan, a 16th-century Mughal nobleman and military commander who served under the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jahangir. He was known for his bravery and military achievements during the Mughal campaigns in the Indian subcontinent.
In the 19th century, there was a famous Egyptian poet and writer named Shaheer Al-Haddad, who was renowned for his beautiful and evocative poetry. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the modern Arabic literary movement and his works continue to be widely read and celebrated today.
More recently, in the 20th century, there was a prominent Indian actor and filmmaker named Shaheer Khan, who appeared in several Bollywood films and television shows. He was known for his versatility as an actor and his ability to portray a wide range of characters on screen.
The name Shaheer continues to be popular in various parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. It is often chosen by parents who wish to bestow upon their child a name that conveys a sense of fame, renown, and distinction.
People
Shaheer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaheer 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
Shaheer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaheer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 429 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaheer 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 798,961 US residents.
Is Shaheer a common name?
We classify Shaheer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 434 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaheer most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaheer was 2005, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaheer 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 Shaheer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 494 people with the name Shaheer, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,791 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 Shaheer 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 Shaheer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaheer leans strongly male. 480 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 11 female bearers (2.2%). 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 Shaheer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaheer is Asian/Pacific Islander at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Black (6.5%) and White (5.1%). 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 Shaheer most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shaheer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.4% (407 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 Shaheer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaheer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaheer 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 Shaheer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaheer 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 Shaheer 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 common is the name Shaheer?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.