Shalia
A feminine name of unknown origin, potentially derived from the Persian word "shah" meaning "king".
Name Census estimates that about 536 living Americans carry the first name Shalia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shalia today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shalia births was 2006 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shalia. 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
536
~ 1 in 639,467 Americans
Peak year
2006
24 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2021 SSA rank
#17,304
Tracked since 1962
Census
Shalia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 507 people with the first name Shalia, which placed it at #20,390 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
#20,390
National first-name rank
People counted
507
507 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
55.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shalia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shalia is Black at 55.6%. The next largest groups are White (20.1%) and Hispanic (12.0%). 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 Shalia 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 Shalia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American55.6% · 282
- White20.1% · 102
- Hispanic or Latino12.0% · 61
- Two or more races7.1% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Popularity
Shalia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shalia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 187 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
Shalia 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 Shalia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shalias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shalia
The given name Shalia is believed to have originated in the Sanskrit language, dating back to ancient times in the Indian subcontinent. It is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "shala," which means abode or dwelling place. This suggests that the name may have initially held spiritual or religious connotations.
In Hindu mythology, the name Shalia is associated with Shalihotra, a powerful sage and warrior who played a significant role in the epic Mahabharata. This ancient text, which dates back to around the 4th century BCE, mentions Shalihotra as a renowned archer and teacher of the Kuru princes.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shalia was Princess Shalia of Kashmir, who lived in the 8th century CE. She was known for her beauty, intelligence, and prowess in various fields, including literature and poetry. Her legacy has been celebrated in several works of art and literature from that period.
Another notable figure was Shalia the Wise, a 10th-century Persian scholar and philosopher. She was widely respected for her vast knowledge and contributions to various fields, including mathematics, astronomy, and metaphysics. Her writings were influential in shaping intellectual discourse during the Islamic Golden Age.
In the 12th century, Shalia of Cordoba was a renowned Andalusian poet and scholar. Her works, which often celebrated love and nature, were highly acclaimed and widely circulated throughout the Muslim world. She is considered one of the most prominent female voices of the era.
Fast-forwarding to the 16th century, Shalia was the name of a powerful ruler in the Vijayanagar Empire in southern India. Queen Shalia was known for her military strategy, diplomatic skills, and patronage of the arts and culture. Her reign saw a period of prosperity and stability in the region.
Another prominent figure was Shalia Khan, a 17th-century Mughal general and military strategist. He played a crucial role in several campaigns and is remembered for his bravery and tactical genius on the battlefield. His exploits were documented in several historical accounts from that period.
People
Shalia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shalia 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
Shalia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shalia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 536 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shalia 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 639,467 US residents.
Is Shalia a common name?
We classify Shalia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 557 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shalia most popular?
The single biggest year for Shalia was 2006, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shalia is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shalia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 507 people with the name Shalia, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,390 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 Shalia 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 Shalia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shalia appears almost entirely female. Of the 515 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Shalia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shalia is Black at 55.6%. The next largest groups are White (20.1%) and Hispanic (12.0%). 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 Shalia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shalia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.6% (282 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 Shalia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shalia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shalia 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 Shalia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shalia 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 Shalia 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 Shalia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.