Shamara
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "twilight".
Name Census estimates that about 1,591 living Americans carry the first name Shamara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shamara today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shamara births was 1989 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shamara. 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 Shamara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 215,433 Americans
Peak year
1989
66 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,236
Tracked since 1971
Census
Shamara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,417 people with the first name Shamara, which placed it at #9,708 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
#9,708
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,417 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shamara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamara is Black at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Shamara 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 Shamara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.3% · 1,166
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 85
- Two or more races5.3% · 75
- White4.8% · 68
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Popularity
Shamara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shamara from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 526 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
Shamara 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 Shamara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shamaras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Shamara, while South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shamara
The name Shamara is of Arabic origin, derived from the Arabic word "shamar" which means "to guard" or "to protect." It is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, a period of cultural and scientific flourishing in the region between the 8th and 13th centuries.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shamara can be traced back to the 10th century, when it was mentioned in various Arabic literary works and historical records. One notable mention is in the book "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), a comprehensive collection of Arabic poetry and biographies of poets compiled by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani in the late 10th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shamara. One of the earliest recorded was Shamara al-Hanafi, a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist who lived in the 11th century. She was known for her expertise in Hanafi jurisprudence and her contributions to the field of Islamic law.
Another prominent figure was Shamara al-Dimashqi, a 12th-century Arabic poet and writer from Damascus. She was renowned for her eloquent and powerful poetry, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
In the 13th century, Shamara al-Qudsi was a celebrated Sufi mystic and spiritual teacher. She was known for her profound insights into the nature of the divine and her ability to guide others on the path of spiritual enlightenment.
During the 14th century, Shamara al-Andalusi was a respected physician and scholar from the Iberian Peninsula. She made significant contributions to the field of medicine and was widely respected for her knowledge and expertise.
In the 16th century, Shamara al-Misri was a renowned calligrapher and artist from Egypt. Her intricate and beautiful calligraphic works were highly sought after and adorned many mosques and palaces throughout the region.
While the name Shamara has been present throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon, particularly in more modern times. However, its rich cultural heritage and symbolic meaning as a protector and guardian have endured, making it a unique and meaningful name choice for parents seeking to connect their child with a rich historical and cultural tradition.
People
Shamara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shamara 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
Shamara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shamara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,591 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shamara 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 215,433 US residents.
Is Shamara a common name?
We classify Shamara as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,660 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shamara most popular?
The single biggest year for Shamara was 1989, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shamara is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shamara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,417 people with the name Shamara, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,708 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 Shamara 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 Shamara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shamara appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,414 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Shamara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamara is Black at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Shamara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shamara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (1,166 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 Shamara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shamara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shamara 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 Shamara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shamara 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 Shamara 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 Shamara?
You can see how many people have the name Shamara on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.