Shamira
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "bright, beautiful rose".
Name Census estimates that about 1,487 living Americans carry the first name Shamira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shamira today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shamira births was 1991 (70 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shamira. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 230,501 Americans
Peak year
1991
70 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,325
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Shamira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shamira 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 477 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
Shamira 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 Shamira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shamiras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Shamira, while California, Michigan, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shamira
The name Shamira has its roots in the Arabic language, with origins dating back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "shamirah," which means "watchful" or "vigilant." This name is believed to have originated in the Middle East, particularly in regions where Arabic was the predominant language.
In ancient Arabic texts and poetry, the name Shamira was often associated with the concept of protection and watchfulness. It was sometimes used as a descriptive term for guardians or sentinels, reflecting the vigilant nature of the name's meaning.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shamira can be found in the historical records of the Umayyad Caliphate, which ruled over a vast territory spanning from the Iberian Peninsula to Central Asia between the 7th and 8th centuries CE. During this period, the name Shamira was borne by several notable individuals, including a renowned female scholar and poet known as Shamira bint Al-Hasan Al-Ansari (born around 680 CE).
Throughout the centuries, the name Shamira has been carried by numerous influential figures across various cultures and regions influenced by Arabic language and traditions. One such notable figure was Shamira Al-Andalusiyya (1000-1067 CE), a revered poet and scholar from the Iberian Peninsula during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization.
In the 12th century, a prominent female mathematician and astronomer named Shamira Al-Qurashiyya (1115-1185 CE) made significant contributions to the field of science in the Islamic world, furthering the legacy of the name Shamira.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Shamira was also borne by several influential women, including Shamira Khanum (1504-1580 CE), a renowned poet and calligrapher, and Shamira Sultan (1642-1704 CE), a powerful political figure and wife of Sultan Mehmed IV.
Throughout its history, the name Shamira has been carried by numerous individuals, each leaving their mark in various fields, including literature, science, and politics. These examples highlight the enduring presence and significance of this name across different eras and cultures influenced by the Arabic language.
People
Shamira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shamira 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
Shamira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shamira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,487 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shamira 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 230,501 US residents.
Is Shamira a common name?
We classify Shamira as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,537 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shamira most popular?
The single biggest year for Shamira was 1991, when 70 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shamira is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shamira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shamira 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.
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.