Shakeem
An Arabic name meaning "thankful" or "grateful".
Name Census estimates that about 811 living Americans carry the first name Shakeem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shakeem today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakeem births was 1994 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakeem. 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 Shakeem with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
811
~ 1 in 422,632 Americans
Peak year
1994
60 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,703
Tracked since 1976
Census
Shakeem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 577 people with the first name Shakeem, which placed it at #18,616 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
#18,616
National first-name rank
People counted
577
577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shakeem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakeem is Black at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Shakeem 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 Shakeem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.4% · 510
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 36
- Two or more races2.4% · 14
- White1.7% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Shakeem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakeem from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 418 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
Shakeem 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 Shakeem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakeems live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Shakeem, while Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shakeem
The name Shakeem has its origins in the Arabic language and can be traced back to the 7th century AD, during the time of the Islamic Golden Age. The name is believed to be derived from the Arabic word "shākir," which means "thankful" or "grateful."
This name gained popularity in the Middle East and North Africa, where Arabic culture and language flourished. It was commonly given to male children as a way to express gratitude and appreciation to Allah for the blessing of a child.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shakeem can be found in the writings of the renowned Islamic scholar, Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 AD). In his works, he mentions a man named Shakeem who was known for his piety and dedication to the study of Islamic theology.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shakeem. One of the most famous was Shakeem al-Baghdadi (1145-1219 AD), a renowned poet and philosopher from Baghdad. His works explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, and he is considered one of the greatest literary figures of the Abbasid era.
Another prominent figure was Shakeem al-Ansari (1210-1288 AD), a Sufi mystic and scholar from Egypt. He was known for his teachings on self-discipline, devotion, and the pursuit of inner peace, which influenced many subsequent Sufi orders and practices.
In the 14th century, Shakeem al-Dimashqi (1325-1405 AD) was a renowned mathematician and astronomer from Damascus. He made significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the study of algebra and trigonometry.
During the Ottoman Empire, Shakeem Pasha (1550-1622 AD) was a prominent military commander and statesman. He played a crucial role in the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and was known for his strategic brilliance and leadership on the battlefield.
While the name Shakeem has its roots in Arabic culture, it has been adopted and adapted in various regions and cultures over the centuries, each with their own unique interpretations and associations.
People
Shakeem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakeem 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
Shakeem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakeem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 811 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakeem 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 422,632 US residents.
Is Shakeem a common name?
We classify Shakeem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 830 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakeem most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakeem was 1994, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakeem is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shakeem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 577 people with the name Shakeem, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,616 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 Shakeem 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 Shakeem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakeem leans strongly male. 557 people counted with this name were male (96.2%), compared with 22 female bearers (3.8%). 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 Shakeem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakeem is Black at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Shakeem most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakeem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.4% (510 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 Shakeem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakeem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shakeem 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 Shakeem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakeem 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 Shakeem 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 share the name Shakeem?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.