Shanaya
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "peace" or "tranquility".
Name Census estimates that about 3,009 living Americans carry the first name Shanaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shanaya today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanaya births was 2016 (234 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanaya. 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 Shanaya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Shanaya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 113,910 Americans
Peak year
2016
234 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,107
Tracked since 1976
Census
Shanaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,154 people with the first name Shanaya, which placed it at #7,160 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
#7,160
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,154 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
53.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanaya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 53.2%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Shanaya 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 Shanaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander53.2% · 1,147
- Black or African American31.8% · 684
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 128
- White4.3% · 93
- Two or more races2.7% · 59
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 43
Popularity
Shanaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanaya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,368 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Shanaya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shanaya 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 Shanaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shanayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Shanaya, while Minnesota, Louisiana, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanaya
The name Shanaya is of Sanskrit origin and is derived from the combination of two words: "shanti" meaning peace, and "aya" meaning to obtain or arrive. It is a feminine name that holds significance in the Indian culture, particularly in Hinduism.
Shanaya is believed to have originated in ancient India during the Vedic period, which spans from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. The name is closely associated with the concept of achieving inner peace and tranquility, which is highly valued in Hindu philosophy and spirituality.
Historically, the name can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads. It is mentioned in various contexts related to spiritual enlightenment and the pursuit of peace and harmony within oneself and with the divine.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shanaya can be found in the epic Sanskrit poem, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In this ancient text, Shanaya is mentioned as the name of a celestial nymph or apsara, known for her beauty and grace.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Shanaya. One such person was Shanaya Kashyap, a renowned Indian philosopher and spiritual teacher who lived in the 7th century CE. She was known for her profound wisdom and teachings on the path to self-realization.
Another historical figure was Shanaya Devi, a 12th-century Indian mystic and poet. Her literary works, particularly her poetry, explored themes of devotion, love, and the divine connection between the human soul and the cosmic consciousness.
In the 16th century, Shanaya Kumari was a revered Hindu saint and scholar from the Rajput community in India. She was renowned for her deep knowledge of the sacred texts and her dedication to spiritual practices.
During the 18th century, Shanaya Bai was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and courtesan from the Lucknow region. She was highly skilled in the art of Kathak dance and contributed to the preservation and promotion of this ancient dance form.
One of the more recent historical figures with the name Shanaya was Shanaya Tiwari, an Indian freedom fighter and social activist who lived in the early 20th century. She played a significant role in the Indian independence movement and fought for women's rights and education.
People
Shanaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanaya 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
Shanaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,009 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanaya 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 113,910 US residents.
Is Shanaya a common name?
We classify Shanaya as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,052 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanaya was 2016, when 234 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanaya is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shanaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,154 people with the name Shanaya, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,160 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 Shanaya 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 Shanaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,158 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Shanaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanaya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 53.2%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Shanaya most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shanaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.2% (1,147 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 Shanaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shanaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shanaya 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 Shanaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shanaya 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 Shanaya 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 have Shanaya as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Shanaya, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.