Shanira
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly meaning "beautiful" or "melodious".
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the first name Shanira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shanira today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanira births was 2002 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanira. 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
136
~ 1 in 2,520,252 Americans
Peak year
2002
12 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2010 SSA rank
#13,280
Tracked since 1981
Census
Shanira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 179 people with the first name Shanira, which placed it at #41,133 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
#41,133
National first-name rank
People counted
179
179 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
64.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanira is Black at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). 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 Shanira 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 Shanira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American64.8% · 116
- Hispanic or Latino32.4% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 2
- Two or more races1.1% · 2
- White0.6% · 1
Popularity
Shanira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanira from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 61 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
Shanira 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 Shanira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanira
The name Shanira is believed to have originated in the Indian subcontinent, with roots that can be traced back to Sanskrit, one of the oldest and most influential languages in the world. The name itself is a combination of two Sanskrit words, "shan" meaning "peace" or "tranquility," and "ira" meaning "earth" or "soil." Together, the name can be interpreted as "one who brings peace to the earth" or "tranquility of the earth."
In ancient Hindu mythology, Shanira was the name of a minor goddess associated with fertility and the bountiful harvest. She was often depicted as a beautiful woman adorned with flowers and holding a sheaf of wheat. While her worship was relatively localized, she held significance for agricultural communities who sought her blessings for abundant crops and a prosperous year.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Shanira can be found in the Rigveda, one of the oldest and most revered Hindu scriptures, dating back to around 1500 BCE. In this ancient text, a hymn is dedicated to Shanira, praising her as the bringer of prosperity and invoking her benevolence upon the land.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shanira. One of the earliest recorded was Shanira Devi, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 7th century CE. Her works, which explored themes of spirituality and the natural world, were highly influential in her time and continue to be studied and appreciated by scholars today.
In the 12th century, Shanira Bai was a prominent figure in the Bhakti movement, a spiritual renaissance that swept across India. She was a devotional singer and composer, renowned for her soulful kirtans (devotional songs) that celebrated the divine love for the Supreme Being. Her compositions are still cherished and sung in many Hindu households and temples.
During the 16th century, Shanira Begum was a renowned courtesan and poet in the Mughal court of Emperor Akbar. Her poetry, which often explored themes of love and desire, was widely celebrated for its eloquence and sensuality. She was also known for her exceptional beauty and wit, which made her a favorite among the nobility of the time.
In more recent times, Shanira Sampat was an acclaimed Indian classical dancer who lived from 1920 to 2006. She was a pioneer in reviving and preserving the ancient dance form of Odissi, which had fallen into obscurity. Her performances and teachings played a crucial role in ensuring the survival and recognition of this rich cultural heritage.
Shanira Sundaram, born in 1928, was a renowned Indian physicist and educator. She made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics and was a pioneering figure in promoting science education and research in India. She received numerous honors and awards, including the prestigious Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors.
People
Shanira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanira 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
Shanira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanira 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 2,520,252 US residents.
Is Shanira a common name?
We classify Shanira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 140 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanira most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanira was 2002, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanira is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shanira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 179 people with the name Shanira, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,133 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 Shanira 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 Shanira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanira leans strongly female. 174 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.8%). 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 Shanira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanira is Black at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). 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 Shanira most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shanira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.8% (116 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 Shanira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shanira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shanira 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 Shanira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shanira 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 Shanira 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 Shanira?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.