Shanika
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "bringing happiness and peace".
Name Census estimates that about 5,290 living Americans carry the first name Shanika. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shanika today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanika births was 1979 (410 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanika. 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 Shanika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.3K
~ 1 in 64,793 Americans
Peak year
1979
410 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
1989 SSA rank
#7,754
Tracked since 1970
Census
Shanika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,486 people with the first name Shanika, which placed it at #4,237 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
#4,237
National first-name rank
People counted
4.5K
4,486 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanika is Black at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Shanika 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 Shanika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.7% · 4,068
- Two or more races3.2% · 143
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 105
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 81
- White1.7% · 77
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Shanika
Out of the 5,610 babies given the name Shanika since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Shanika as a male name
- Ranked #7,754 in 1989
- 6 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (6 births)
Shanika as a female name
- Ranked #10,925 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (410 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanika appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,484 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Shanika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanika from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 2,723 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shanika 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 Shanika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shanikas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. Florida, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Shanika, while Connecticut, Wisconsin, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 174 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanika
The name Shanika is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which was spoken in ancient India. It is a combination of two Sanskrit words, "shani" meaning Saturn, the planet associated with patience and perseverance, and "ka" which is a diminutive suffix. Therefore, the name Shanika translates to "little one associated with Saturn."
This name has its roots in Hindu mythology, where Saturn is revered as a powerful celestial being. It is thought that parents may have chosen this name for their daughters in the hope that they would possess the qualities of determination and resilience associated with the planet Saturn.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shanika can be traced back to ancient Indian texts and scriptures from the 5th century BCE. One notable reference is found in the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic poem, where a character named Shanika is mentioned as a skilled warrior and advisor to the Pandava princes.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shanika. One of the earliest recorded was Shanika Devi (c. 810-890 CE), a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry.
Another notable figure was Shanika Bai (1548-1613), a powerful queen and ruler of the Maratha Empire in India. She is remembered for her strategic military leadership and her efforts in expanding the empire's territories.
In the realm of literature, Shanika Raizada (1928-2003) was a celebrated Indian poet and writer who authored several acclaimed works and received numerous literary awards during her lifetime.
Shifting to the performing arts, Shanika Jayasuriya (1962-) is a prominent Sri Lankan actress and singer who has appeared in numerous films and stage productions, earning critical acclaim for her versatile performances.
Lastly, Shanika Amerasinghe (1979-) is a notable Sri Lankan cricketer who played for the national women's cricket team and was part of the squad that won the Asia Cup in 2008.
While the name Shanika has its origins in ancient Sanskrit and Hindu culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and gained popularity in various parts of the world, with individuals from different backgrounds and cultures embracing this name for its unique meaning and historical significance.
People
Shanika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanika 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
Shanika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,290 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanika 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 64,793 US residents.
Is Shanika a common name?
We classify Shanika as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,610 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanika most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanika was 1979, when 410 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanika is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shanika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,486 people with the name Shanika, or 1.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,237 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 Shanika 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 Shanika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanika appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,484 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 Shanika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanika is Black at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Shanika most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shanika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (4,068 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 Shanika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shanika a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Shanika 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 Shanika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shanika 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 Shanika 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 named Shanika?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Shanika at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.