Shail
A masculine name of Indian origin meaning "Mountain Peak".
Name Census estimates that about 73 living Americans carry the first name Shail. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shail today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shail births was 2016 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shail. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shail. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
73
~ 1 in 4,695,265 Americans
Peak year
2016
10 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2016 SSA rank
#8,069
Tracked since 1990
Popularity
Shail: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shail from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 31 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
Shail 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 Shail 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 Shail
The name Shail has its roots in Sanskrit, one of the oldest and most influential languages of the Indian subcontinent. Derived from the Sanskrit word "shailah," meaning "rock" or "mountain," the name Shail is believed to have originated in ancient India.
In Hindu mythology, mountains hold a sacred place and are often personified as deities or revered as abodes of the gods. The Himalayas, in particular, are considered the celestial dwelling of Lord Shiva and other divine beings. This connection with the natural majesty and strength of mountains likely contributed to the name's significance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shail can be found in the Mahabharata, the ancient Indian epic that dates back to the 8th or 9th century BCE. In this revered text, Shail is mentioned as the name of a king from the Kuru dynasty, an influential lineage in ancient Indian history.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shail. One such figure was Shail Avasthi (1925-2004), an eminent Indian journalist and author who served as the editor of the renowned newspaper, The Times of India, from 1967 to 1986. His influential writing and editorial leadership left a lasting impact on Indian journalism.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Shail Chaturvedi (1944-2016), an acclaimed Indian poet, novelist, and essayist. He received numerous literary awards and accolades for his contributions to Hindi literature, including the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993.
In the field of mathematics, Shail Kamat (born 1957) is a renowned Indian-American mathematician and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has made significant contributions to the areas of algebraic topology and homotopy theory.
Shail Soni (born 1975) is a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer, renowned for her expertise in the Kathak dance form. She has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, India's highest honor in the performing arts.
Finally, Shail Kumari (1922-2013) was a pioneering Indian social worker and activist who dedicated her life to the empowerment of marginalized communities, particularly women and children. Her selfless efforts and tireless advocacy for social justice earned her widespread recognition and admiration.
People
Shail + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shail 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
Shail: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shail?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 73 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shail 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 4,695,265 US residents.
Is Shail a common name?
We classify Shail as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 74 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shail most popular?
The single biggest year for Shail was 2016, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shail is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shail a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shail 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.
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.