Shaniah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "elevated" or "exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 1,896 living Americans carry the first name Shaniah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shaniah today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaniah births was 2001 (148 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaniah. 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 Shaniah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 180,778 Americans
Peak year
2001
148 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,217
Tracked since 1990
Census
Shaniah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,500 people with the first name Shaniah, which placed it at #9,310 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
#9,310
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,500 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
65.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaniah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaniah is Black at 65.0%. The next largest groups are White (12.9%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Shaniah 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 Shaniah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American65.0% · 975
- White12.9% · 194
- Two or more races8.5% · 128
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 126
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 34
Popularity
Shaniah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaniah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,036 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaniah 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 Shaniah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaniahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. Florida, New York, Georgia recorded the most babies named Shaniah, while Washington, Utah, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaniah
The name Shaniah is a relatively modern name that has gained popularity in recent decades. It is believed to have its roots in the Arabic language, where the name Shania or Shaniah is derived from the word "shan," meaning "to rise" or "to ascend." This suggests that the name may have been given to children with the hope that they would rise to great heights or achieve success in life.
While the exact origin of the name Shaniah is somewhat uncertain, it is possible that it was influenced by the Arabic name Shania, which has a similar spelling and pronunciation. Shania is a variant of the name Shania, which means "brilliant" or "shining" in Arabic.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shaniah can be found in the early 20th century, when it was used as a given name for a few individuals in the United States. However, it was not until the late 20th and early 21st centuries that the name gained widespread popularity, particularly among African American and Hispanic communities.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Shaniah. One of the earliest recorded examples is Shaniah Smith, an American singer and songwriter who was born in 1985. She gained recognition for her work in the R&B and pop genres.
Another noteworthy individual with the name Shaniah is Shaniah Dickson, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She specialized in the high jump and represented the United States.
In the realm of literature, Shaniah Sumpter is an American author and poet who has published several works, including the poetry collection "Whispers from the Willow" in 2018.
Shaniah Briggs is an American actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films, including the popular drama series "Power" in 2018.
Lastly, Shaniah Askew is an American basketball player who played for the University of Southern California's women's basketball team between 2016 and 2020, where she excelled as a forward and helped lead her team to several victories.
While the name Shaniah may have originated from Arabic roots, it has become a popular choice across various cultures and communities, particularly in the United States. Its meaning and significance continue to resonate with parents who wish for their children to rise to great heights and achieve success in their endeavors.
People
Shaniah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaniah 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
Shaniah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaniah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,896 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaniah 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 180,778 US residents.
Is Shaniah a common name?
We classify Shaniah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,928 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaniah most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaniah was 2001, when 148 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaniah is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaniah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,500 people with the name Shaniah, or 0.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,310 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 Shaniah 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 Shaniah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaniah appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,494 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Shaniah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaniah is Black at 65.0%. The next largest groups are White (12.9%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Shaniah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shaniah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.0% (975 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 Shaniah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaniah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaniah 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 Shaniah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaniah 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 Shaniah 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 Americans are named Shaniah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.