Shamel
Of Arabic origin meaning "all-encompassing, whole, or complete".
Name Census estimates that about 1,136 living Americans carry the first name Shamel. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Shamel today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shamel births was 1993 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shamel. 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 Shamel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 301,720 Americans
Peak year
1993
57 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,187
Tracked since 1974
Census
Shamel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 913 people with the first name Shamel, which placed it at #13,282 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
#13,282
National first-name rank
People counted
913
913 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shamel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamel is Black at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and White (6.7%). 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 Shamel 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 Shamel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.5% · 717
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 79
- White6.7% · 61
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 28
- Two or more races2.8% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Shamel
Shamel leans heavily male at 86.8% of total registrations, but 155 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shamel as a male name
- Ranked #13,858 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1993 (42 births)
Shamel as a female name
- Ranked #13,187 in 1996
- 6 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1977 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shamel leans strongly male. 731 people counted with this name were male (80.4%), compared with 178 female bearers (19.6%).
Popularity
Shamel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shamel from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 370 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
Shamel 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 Shamel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shamels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Shamel, while Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 244 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shamel
The name Shamel is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the word "shamala," which means "to include" or "to embrace." This suggests that the name could be associated with qualities such as inclusiveness, acceptance, and embracing others.
The earliest known use of the name Shamel can be traced back to the 7th century, during the rise of Islam and the spread of Arabic culture across the Middle East and North Africa. It is possible that the name was used by early Muslim scholars or religious figures, as it carries a positive connotation in the Arabic language.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shamel was Shamel al-Basri, a renowned Islamic scholar and poet who lived in the 8th century. He was known for his contributions to the study of Arabic literature and his influential works on various topics, including ethics and spirituality.
In the 10th century, there was a famous Arab philosopher and mathematician named Shamel ibn Yahya al-Maghribi. He made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy, and his works were widely studied and influential in the Islamic world.
Another notable figure with the name Shamel was Shamel al-Din al-Isfahani, a renowned Persian poet and scholar who lived in the 12th century. He was known for his mastery of the Arabic language and his beautiful poetic compositions, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human experience.
During the Ottoman Empire, there was a prominent military leader named Shamel Pasha, who lived in the 19th century. He served as a general in the Ottoman army and played a significant role in various military campaigns and conflicts of his time.
Throughout history, the name Shamel has been used across various cultures and regions influenced by Arabic language and culture, such as the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia. While it may not be a widely recognized name globally, it holds a rich cultural heritage and meaning within the Arabic-speaking world.
People
Shamel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shamel 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
Shamel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shamel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shamel 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 301,720 US residents.
Is Shamel a common name?
We classify Shamel as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,175 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shamel most popular?
The single biggest year for Shamel was 1993, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shamel 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 Shamel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 913 people with the name Shamel, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,282 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 Shamel 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 Shamel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shamel leans strongly male. 731 people counted with this name were male (80.4%), compared with 178 female bearers (19.6%). 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 Shamel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamel is Black at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and White (6.7%). 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 Shamel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shamel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.5% (717 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 Shamel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shamel a male name?
Yes, 86.8% of people registered as Shamel in the SSA data are male. 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 Shamel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shamel 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 Shamel 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 Shamel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.