Shakara
A feminine name of African origin meaning "beautiful", "sweet", or "graceful".
Name Census estimates that about 860 living Americans carry the first name Shakara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shakara today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakara births was 1990 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakara. 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 Shakara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
860
~ 1 in 398,552 Americans
Peak year
1990
66 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2010 SSA rank
#19,381
Tracked since 1976
Census
Shakara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 728 people with the first name Shakara, which placed it at #15,712 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
#15,712
National first-name rank
People counted
728
728 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 Shakara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakara is Black at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and White (5.6%). 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 Shakara 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 Shakara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.1% · 612
- Two or more races7.6% · 55
- White5.6% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Shakara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakara from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 417 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shakara 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 Shakara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakaras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Florida, New York, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Shakara, while Michigan, Illinois, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shakara
The name Shakara is believed to have originated from the Arabic language. It is derived from the root word "shakara," which means "to give thanks" or "to be grateful." The name is primarily found in Arabic-speaking countries, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
In ancient Arabic literature and Islamic texts, the concept of "shukr" (gratitude) is highly emphasized. The name Shakara is often associated with the virtues of thankfulness, appreciation, and gratitude towards God and others. It is considered a name that carries positive connotations and reflects the importance of expressing gratitude in one's life.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Shakara date back to the medieval period in the Islamic world. One notable historical figure who bore this name was Shakara al-Baghdadi, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in Baghdad, Iraq, during the 9th century CE. She was known for her contributions to Arabic literature and her mastery of various poetic forms.
Another prominent figure with the name Shakara was Shakara bint Hussain, a 12th-century Arab philosopher and mathematician from Persia (modern-day Iran). She is recognized for her contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the study of algebra and geometry.
In the 14th century, there was a Sufi mystic and scholar named Shakara al-Qadiri, who hailed from the city of Qadiriya in present-day Iraq. He was known for his spiritual teachings and his influential works on Sufism, a mystical tradition within Islam.
During the Ottoman Empire, a notable figure named Shakara Khatun lived in the 16th century. She was a princess and philanthropist who established several charitable foundations and supported the construction of mosques, schools, and other public buildings in various parts of the Ottoman territories.
In more recent times, Shakara al-Masri was a renowned Egyptian writer and journalist who lived in the 20th century. She was known for her literary works that explored themes of social justice, women's rights, and the struggles faced by the underprivileged in Egyptian society.
While these are just a few examples, the name Shakara has been present throughout history in various regions and cultures influenced by the Arabic language and Islamic traditions. It continues to be a popular name choice among Arabic-speaking communities, carrying the essence of gratitude and appreciation.
People
Shakara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakara 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
Shakara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 860 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakara 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 398,552 US residents.
Is Shakara a common name?
We classify Shakara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 896 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakara most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakara was 1990, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakara is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shakara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 728 people with the name Shakara, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,712 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 Shakara 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 Shakara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakara appears almost entirely female. Of the 732 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Shakara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakara is Black at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and White (5.6%). 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 Shakara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.1% (612 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 Shakara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shakara in the SSA data are female. 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 Shakara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakara 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 Shakara 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 Americans are named Shakara?
Want to know how many people have the name Shakara? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.