Shakirah
An Arabic feminine name meaning "thankful" or "grateful".
Name Census estimates that about 778 living Americans carry the first name Shakirah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shakirah today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakirah births was 1992 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakirah. 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 Shakirah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
778
~ 1 in 440,558 Americans
Peak year
1992
42 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2018 SSA rank
#15,376
Tracked since 1976
Census
Shakirah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 671 people with the first name Shakirah, which placed it at #16,695 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
#16,695
National first-name rank
People counted
671
671 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shakirah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakirah is Black at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Shakirah 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 Shakirah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.6% · 588
- Two or more races4.3% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 16
- White1.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Shakirah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakirah 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 313 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
Shakirah 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 Shakirah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakirahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Shakirah, while North Carolina, Georgia, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 53 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shakirah
The name Shakirah is of Arabic origin and has its roots in the word "shakara," which means "to give thanks" or "to be grateful." It is believed to have originated in the Middle Ages and was predominantly used in the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding regions.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shakirah can be traced back to the 7th century, when it was mentioned in ancient Arabic texts and manuscripts. It was often given to girls as a reminder to be thankful and express gratitude for the blessings bestowed upon them.
In Islamic tradition, the name Shakirah is associated with the concept of gratitude towards Allah (God) and is considered a virtuous name. It is believed to have been inspired by the Quranic verse, "And remember when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you, but if you are ungrateful, My punishment is severe.'" (Surah Ibrahim, 14:7).
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shakirah was a renowned 9th-century female scholar and poet from Baghdad, known as Shakirah bint Al-Husayn Al-Khuzai. She was celebrated for her contributions to Arabic literature and her expertise in various fields, including poetry, grammar, and hadith (prophetic traditions).
Another notable figure was Shakirah Al-Nabulsi, a 17th-century Palestinian scholar and mystic from Nablus. She was renowned for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her influential writings on Sufism.
In the 19th century, Shakirah Al-Ibrahimi was a respected Iraqi poet and writer who gained recognition for her eloquent and thought-provoking works. Her poetry often explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary.
One of the most famous bearers of the name in modern times was Shakirah Ression, an American singer and actress born in 1971. She gained widespread popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s for her roles in various films and television shows.
Another notable Shakirah was Shakirah Nyanjira, a Kenyan activist and advocate for women's rights and education. Born in 1976, she has been recognized for her efforts in empowering young girls and promoting gender equality in her home country.
People
Shakirah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakirah 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
Shakirah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakirah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 778 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakirah 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 440,558 US residents.
Is Shakirah a common name?
We classify Shakirah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 808 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakirah most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakirah was 1992, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakirah is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shakirah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 671 people with the name Shakirah, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,695 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 Shakirah 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 Shakirah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakirah appears almost entirely female. Of the 670 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Shakirah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakirah is Black at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Shakirah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakirah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (588 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 Shakirah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakirah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shakirah 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 Shakirah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakirah 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 Shakirah 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 named Shakirah?
See how many people share the name Shakirah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.