Shaka
A masculine name of Zulu origin meaning "Defiant".
Name Census estimates that about 799 living Americans carry the first name Shaka. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Shaka today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaka births was 1987 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaka. 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 Shaka with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
799
~ 1 in 428,979 Americans
Peak year
1987
53 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,168
Tracked since 1970
Census
Shaka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 742 people with the first name Shaka, which placed it at #15,477 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
#15,477
National first-name rank
People counted
742
742 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaka is Black at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.6%) and Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Shaka 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 Shaka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.1% · 624
- Two or more races6.6% · 49
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 31
- White2.7% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 18
Gender
Gender distribution for Shaka
Shaka leans heavily male at 83.0% of total registrations, but 142 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shaka as a male name
- Ranked #7,168 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1987 (39 births)
Shaka as a female name
- Ranked #15,332 in 1993
- 5 female births in 1993
- Peak: 1987 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shaka on both sides of the split. Of the 740 people counted with this name, 572 were male (77.3%) and 168 were female (22.7%).
Popularity
Shaka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaka from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 259 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaka 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 Shaka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaka
The name Shaka is of African origin, deriving from the Zulu language spoken by the Zulu people of Southern Africa. It gained prominence in the early 19th century, associated with the renowned Zulu king and military leader Shaka Zulu, who was born around 1787.
Shaka Zulu was instrumental in transforming the Zulu Kingdom into a formidable military force, known for his innovative military tactics and strategies. He is credited with introducing the iconic short stabbing spear and the distinctive circular military formation known as the "buffalo horns" formation.
The name Shaka is believed to be derived from the Zulu word "ishaka," meaning "intestinal beetle" or "thick milkshake." It was reportedly given to the young Shaka due to his physical appearance and his propensity for causing trouble as a child.
While Shaka Zulu is undoubtedly the most famous historical figure associated with this name, there are other notable individuals who have borne the name throughout history. One such person is Shaka Senghor, an American author, and criminal justice reform activist born in 1975. He spent 19 years in prison before being released in 2010 and has since become a prominent voice advocating for prison reform.
Another significant figure is Shaka Ssali, a Ugandan boxer who competed in the heavyweight division during the late 20th century. He represented Uganda at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and won a bronze medal, becoming the first Ugandan to win an Olympic medal.
In the realm of entertainment, Shaka Zulu, born Stephane Cedric Ankirighian in 1964, is a French rapper and actor of Armenian descent. He gained popularity in the 1990s as part of the hip-hop group Assassin, and later pursued a successful acting career, appearing in numerous French films and television shows.
Additionally, Shaka Hislop, born in 1969, is a former professional football (soccer) player from Trinidad and Tobago. He had a long and successful career as a goalkeeper, playing for various clubs in England, including Newcastle United and West Ham United, as well as representing his national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
While the name Shaka has its roots in the Zulu language and culture, it has transcended its origins and gained recognition worldwide, particularly through the legacy of the legendary Shaka Zulu and the accomplishments of notable individuals who have borne this name throughout history.
People
Shaka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaka 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
Shaka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 799 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaka 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 428,979 US residents.
Is Shaka a common name?
We classify Shaka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 834 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaka most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaka was 1987, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaka is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 742 people with the name Shaka, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,477 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 Shaka 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 Shaka?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shaka on both sides of the split. Of the 740 people counted with this name, 572 were male (77.3%) and 168 were female (22.7%). 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 Shaka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaka is Black at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.6%) and Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Shaka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shaka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.1% (624 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 Shaka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaka a male name?
Yes, 83.0% of people registered as Shaka 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 Shaka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaka 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 Shaka 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 Shaka?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.