Shalamar
An English boy's name borrowed from an Urdu word meaning "abode of love".
Name Census estimates that about 300 living Americans carry the first name Shalamar. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Shalamar today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shalamar births was 1980 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shalamar. 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 Shalamar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
300
~ 1 in 1,142,514 Americans
Peak year
1980
46 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
1990 SSA rank
#9,283
Tracked since 1966
Census
Shalamar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 328 people with the first name Shalamar, which placed it at #27,731 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
#27,731
National first-name rank
People counted
328
328 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
64.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shalamar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shalamar is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and White (11.6%). 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 Shalamar 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 Shalamar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American64.9% · 213
- Hispanic or Latino12.5% · 41
- White11.6% · 38
- Two or more races9.1% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Shalamar
Shalamar is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 317 total registrations, 83 (26.2%) were male and 234 (73.8%) were female.
Shalamar as a male name
- Ranked #9,283 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1980 (20 births)
Shalamar as a female name
- Ranked #12,267 in 2006
- 9 female births in 2006
- Peak: 1980 (26 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shalamar on both sides of the split. Of the 329 people counted with this name, 107 were male (32.5%) and 222 were female (67.5%).
Popularity
Shalamar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shalamar from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 227 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
Shalamar 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 Shalamar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shalamars live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shalamar
The name Shalamar has its origins in the Persian language, tracing its roots back to the medieval period. Derived from the Persian words "shal" meaning "garden" and "amar" meaning "abundant," the name Shalamar evokes the imagery of a lush, verdant paradise.
In the 14th century, the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the construction of the famous Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan. These exquisite gardens were designed to emulate the Islamic conception of paradise, with their intricate water channels, pavilions, and meticulously landscaped flora. The name Shalamar became forever etched in history as a symbol of beauty and opulence.
While the name's origins can be traced to Persia, it gained widespread recognition and popularity across the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal era. Historical records from this period mention several influential figures bearing the name Shalamar, including Shalamar Khan, a celebrated poet and courtier in the court of Emperor Akbar.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Shalamar can be found in the 16th century Persian epic poem "Shahnameh" by Firdausi. The poem mentions a character named Shalamar, a brave warrior known for his valor and skill in battle.
Throughout history, the name Shalamar has been associated with individuals of great distinction and accomplishment. Shalamar Ali Khan (1791-1855) was a prominent Indian ruler and statesman who served as the Nawab of Tonk, a princely state in present-day Rajasthan, India. His leadership and diplomatic skills were widely admired during his reign.
Another notable figure bearing the name Shalamar was Shalamar Rafi (1924-1980), a legendary Pakistani musician and playback singer. His mellifluous voice and timeless renditions of ghazals and film songs earned him a revered place in the annals of South Asian music.
In the realm of literature, Shalamar Haider (1937-2020) was a celebrated Urdu poet and novelist from Pakistan. His poignant and thought-provoking works explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, garnering him numerous accolades and a devoted following.
Shalamar Nuriddin (born 1944) is an American poet, musician, and founding member of the influential hip-hop group The Last Poets. His powerful and socially conscious lyrics have been instrumental in shaping the narrative of the African American experience and the hip-hop culture.
The name Shalamar has also found its way into popular culture, with the American R&B and funk group Shalamar achieving widespread success in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their chart-topping hits, such as "A Night to Remember" and "I Can Make You Feel Good," have cemented their place in music history.
People
Shalamar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shalamar 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
Shalamar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shalamar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 300 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shalamar 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 1,142,514 US residents.
Is Shalamar a common name?
We classify Shalamar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 317 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shalamar most popular?
The single biggest year for Shalamar was 1980, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shalamar is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shalamar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 328 people with the name Shalamar, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,731 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 Shalamar 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 Shalamar?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shalamar on both sides of the split. Of the 329 people counted with this name, 107 were male (32.5%) and 222 were female (67.5%). 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 Shalamar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shalamar is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and White (11.6%). 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 Shalamar most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shalamar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (213 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 Shalamar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shalamar a female name?
Yes, 73.8% of people registered as Shalamar 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 Shalamar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shalamar 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 Shalamar 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 Shalamar?
See how many people have the name Shalamar on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.