Shaik
An Arabic name meaning leader or respected person.
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Shaik. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shaik today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaik births was 2011 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaik. 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 Shaik with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shaik. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2011
5 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,012
Tracked since 2011
Census
Shaik in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 227 people with the first name Shaik, which placed it at #35,437 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
#35,437
National first-name rank
People counted
227
227 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaik
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaik is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.5%) and Black (2.6%). 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 Shaik 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 Shaik at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.1% · 209
- White3.5% · 8
- Black or African American2.6% · 6
- Two or more races1.3% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Shaik: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaik from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaik 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 Shaik 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 Shaik
The name Shaik has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the 7th century AD. It is derived from the Arabic word "shaykh," which means an elder, chief, or leader of a tribe or community. The name was particularly prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle Eastern region during the early Islamic period.
In its earliest uses, the name Shaik was often bestowed upon respected elders, scholars, and religious leaders within Islamic societies. It carried a sense of authority, wisdom, and reverence. The name is mentioned in various Islamic texts and historical records, including the Quran and hadith literature, where it is used to refer to prominent figures in the early days of Islam.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Shaik can be found in the life of Shaik Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077-1166), a prominent Sufi saint and spiritual leader from the Persian region. He was renowned for his teachings and contributions to Islamic mysticism, and his followers established the Qadiri Sufi order, which continues to exist today.
Another notable figure bearing the name Shaik was Shaik Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624), an influential Islamic scholar and revivalist from the Indian subcontinent. He played a significant role in the renewal of Islamic thought and practices during the Mughal era, advocating for a return to the pure teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah.
In the realm of literature, one cannot overlook Shaik Saadi (1184-1283), a renowned Persian poet and scholar from Shiraz, Iran. His works, such as the "Gulistan" and "Bustan," are considered literary masterpieces and have had a profound impact on Persian and Islamic literature.
During the 13th century, Shaik Moinuddin Chishti (1141-1236), a Sufi mystic and saint from Persia, played a pivotal role in spreading Islam in the Indian subcontinent. He established the Chishti Sufi order, which became one of the most influential spiritual movements in South Asia.
Another notable figure was Shaik Nizam ad-Din Awliya (1238-1325), a renowned Sufi saint and spiritual master from Delhi, India. He was a prominent figure in the Chishti Sufi order and was known for his teachings on love, unity, and devotion to God.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Shaik and left a lasting impact on their respective fields and societies.
People
Shaik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaik 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
Shaik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaik 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Shaik a common name?
We classify Shaik as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaik most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaik was 2011, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaik is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaik in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 227 people with the name Shaik, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,437 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 Shaik 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 Shaik?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaik leans strongly male. 206 people counted with this name were male (90.0%), compared with 23 female bearers (10.0%). 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 Shaik?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaik is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.5%) and Black (2.6%). 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 Shaik most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shaik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (209 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 Shaik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaik a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaik 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 Shaik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaik 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 Shaik 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 are called Shaik?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.