Shakura
A Hebrew name meaning "dawn" or "first light of the morning".
Name Census estimates that about 191 living Americans carry the first name Shakura. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shakura today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakura births was 1997 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakura. 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.
People living today
191
~ 1 in 1,794,525 Americans
Peak year
1997
21 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2007 SSA rank
#15,217
Tracked since 1979
Census
Shakura in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 193 people with the first name Shakura, which placed it at #39,252 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
#39,252
National first-name rank
People counted
193
193 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shakura
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakura is Black at 82.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.2%) and White (4.1%). 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 Shakura 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 Shakura at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.9% · 160
- Two or more races6.2% · 12
- White4.1% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 5
Popularity
Shakura: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakura from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 118 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Shakura remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shakura 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 Shakura 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 Shakura
The name Shakura has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, tracing back to around the 5th century BCE in the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "shakti," which means divine energy or power, and "ra," meaning to give or bestow. The name is believed to signify the embodiment of divine feminine energy or the granting of spiritual power.
One of the earliest known references to the name Shakura can be found in the ancient Hindu scripture, the Upanishads, where it is mentioned as a powerful mantra associated with the goddess Shakti, the divine feminine force of the universe. The name gained popularity in various Hindu and Buddhist traditions, often used as a spiritual name or a name bestowed upon those seeking enlightenment.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Shakura. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Shakura Devi, a renowned Indian mathematician and writer who lived from 1829 to 1946. She was widely acclaimed for her exceptional mental calculation abilities and contributed significantly to the field of mathematics education.
Another prominent figure was Shakura Begum, a 16th-century Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Akbar. Born in 1572, she was known for her literary prowess and her patronage of the arts, contributing to the rich cultural legacy of the Mughal Empire.
In the 19th century, Shakura Bai was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and courtesan who lived from 1829 to 1878. She was renowned for her expertise in the Kathak dance form and played a significant role in preserving and promoting this ancient art form.
More recently, Shakura S'Aida was a noted American blues singer and songwriter who lived from 1938 to 2002. She was renowned for her powerful vocals and her contributions to the Chicago blues scene in the mid-20th century.
Additionally, Shakura Mubarak was a prominent Sudanese women's rights activist and politician who lived from 1945 to 2016. She fought tirelessly for gender equality and played a crucial role in advocating for women's education and empowerment in Sudan.
People
Shakura + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakura 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
Shakura: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakura?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 191 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakura 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 1,794,525 US residents.
Is Shakura a common name?
We classify Shakura as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 197 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakura most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakura was 1997, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakura is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shakura in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 193 people with the name Shakura, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,252 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 Shakura 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 Shakura?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakura leans strongly female. 189 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Shakura?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakura is Black at 82.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.2%) and White (4.1%). 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 Shakura most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakura in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.9% (160 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 Shakura in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakura a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shakura 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 Shakura still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakura 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 Shakura 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 Shakura?
Find out how many people have the name Shakura on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.