Shams
An Arabic masculine name meaning "the sun" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 396 living Americans carry the first name Shams. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Shams today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shams births was 2023 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shams. 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
396
~ 1 in 865,541 Americans
Peak year
2023
46 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,800
Tracked since 1993
Gender
Gender distribution for Shams
Shams is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 399 total registrations, 99 (24.8%) were male and 300 (75.2%) were female.
Shams as a male name
- Ranked #13,871 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (12 births)
Shams as a female name
- Ranked #3,800 in 2024
- 40 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (40 births)
Popularity
Shams: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shams from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 176 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shams 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 Shams during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shams' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Illinois, Michigan recorded the most babies named Shams, while Texas, Michigan, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shams
The name Shams is of Arabic origin and can be traced back to the ancient Semitic languages. It is derived from the root word "shams" which means "sun" in Arabic. The name has been in use in the Middle East and the Arab world for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Shams can be found in the works of the great Persian poet and philosopher, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273 CE). Rumi often referred to his spiritual mentor and companion, Shams-e Tabrizi, with the honorific title "Shams" which means "sun" in Persian.
In Islamic literature and history, the name Shams is also associated with Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra, a influential treatise on Islamic occult sciences and magic, written in the 13th century by Ahmad al-Buni. The name Shams has been a popular choice for Muslim parents, as it evokes the ideas of light, radiance, and divine illumination.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the given name Shams was Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Qays al-Razi (1149-1209 CE), a renowned Persian physician, philosopher, and alchemist. Another notable figure was Shams al-Din al-Hafiz al-Dimashqi (1260-1349 CE), a prominent Syrian scholar and poet during the Mamluk period.
In more recent history, Shams Pahlavi (1917-1996) was an Iranian princess and the eldest daughter of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran. She was known for her philanthropic work and efforts to promote education and women's rights in Iran.
Shams Charania (born 1993) is a Canadian sports journalist and NBA insider, renowned for his reporting and breaking news on player trades and transactions in the National Basketball Association.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the given name Shams throughout history, showcasing its enduring popularity and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Shams + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shams 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
Shams: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shams?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 396 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shams 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 865,541 US residents.
Is Shams a common name?
We classify Shams as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 399 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shams most popular?
The single biggest year for Shams was 2023, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shams is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shams a female name?
Yes, 75.2% of people registered as Shams 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.