Shanisha
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly from Sanskrit meaning "She who leads" or "Peaceful".
Name Census estimates that about 336 living Americans carry the first name Shanisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shanisha today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanisha births was 1989 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanisha. 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
336
~ 1 in 1,020,102 Americans
Peak year
1989
26 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2000 SSA rank
#14,714
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Shanisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 169 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
Shanisha 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 Shanisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shanishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Shanisha, while Texas, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanisha
The name Shanisha is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest languages in the world, dating back to around the 2nd millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit words "shani" meaning "planet Saturn" and "isha" meaning "lord" or "ruler."
In Hindu mythology, Shani is the name of the deity associated with the planet Saturn, and is considered one of the nine principal celestial beings or Navagraha. The name Shanisha is thought to have been given to individuals born under the astrological influence of the planet Saturn or to those who had a strong connection with the deity Shani.
While the exact origins of the name are unclear, it is believed to have been in use in various parts of the Indian subcontinent since ancient times. Some of the earliest recorded examples of the name can be found in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and Puranas.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Shanisha was Shanisha Narayanan, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 9th century CE in the southern Indian region of Kerala. Another notable figure was Shanisha Devi, a princess and patron of the arts who lived in the 16th century during the Mughal Empire in northern India.
In the 18th century, there was Shanisha Bai, a celebrated courtesan and poetess from the city of Lucknow, who was known for her contributions to the Urdu literary tradition. The 19th century saw Shanisha Vaidya, a respected Ayurvedic physician and author from Maharashtra, who wrote several influential treatises on traditional Indian medicine.
More recently, in the 20th century, there was Shanisha Krishnaswamy, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who helped popularize and promote the Bharatanatyam dance form on the global stage. She was born in 1928 and passed away in 2010.
People
Shanisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanisha 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
Shanisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 336 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanisha 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 1,020,102 US residents.
Is Shanisha a common name?
We classify Shanisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 354 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanisha was 1989, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanisha is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shanisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shanisha 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.