Shanti
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "peace" or "tranquility".
Name Census estimates that about 1,919 living Americans carry the first name Shanti. It is a predominantly female name (93.0% of registrations). The average person named Shanti today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanti births was 2003 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanti. 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 Shanti with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 178,611 Americans
Peak year
2003
77 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
1992 SSA rank
#6,339
Tracked since 1966
Census
Shanti in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,166 people with the first name Shanti, which placed it at #5,438 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
#5,438
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,166 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
40.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanti
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanti is Asian/Pacific Islander at 40.6%. The next largest groups are White (19.5%) and Black (17.7%). 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 Shanti 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 Shanti at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander40.6% · 1,284
- White19.5% · 617
- Black or African American17.7% · 559
- Hispanic or Latino11.4% · 360
- Two or more races9.8% · 311
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 35
Gender
Gender distribution for Shanti
Shanti leans heavily female at 93.0% of total registrations, but 140 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shanti as a male name
- Ranked #9,590 in 1992
- 5 male births in 1992
- Peak: 1971 (14 births)
Shanti as a female name
- Ranked #6,339 in 2024
- 19 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (77 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanti leans strongly female. 2,871 people counted with this name were female (90.9%), compared with 289 male bearers (9.1%).
Popularity
Shanti: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanti from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 534 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shanti 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 Shanti during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shantis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Shanti, while Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanti
The name Shanti is a Sanskrit word meaning "peace" or "tranquility." Its origins can be traced back to ancient India, where it was first used as a name for both boys and girls. The name is deeply rooted in Hindu philosophy and is often associated with the concepts of inner peace, harmony, and spiritual enlightenment.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Shanti can be found in the Upanishads, ancient Hindu scriptures dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In these texts, Shanti is described as a state of being where one is free from suffering, turmoil, and the cycle of birth and death.
In the Indian epic Mahabharata, which is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE, there is a character named Shanti, who is the embodiment of peace and wisdom. She is portrayed as a virtuous woman who helps guide the protagonists through their struggles and challenges.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shanti. One of the earliest recorded was Shanti Devi (1926-1994), an Indian freedom fighter and social activist who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. She was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and worked tirelessly for the rights of women and the underprivileged.
Another prominent figure was Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar (1894-1955), an Indian chemist and scientific administrator. He is considered the father of research laboratories in India and was instrumental in establishing several prestigious scientific institutions, including the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
In the realm of literature, Shanti Bhikshu (1926-2011) was a renowned Indian novelist and playwright. His works, which often explored themes of spirituality and social issues, won him numerous awards and accolades, including the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honor.
Shanti Anand (1935-2021) was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who played a significant role in popularizing Kathak, one of the major classical dance forms of India. She was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors.
Lastly, Shanti Devi (1926-1987) was an Indian freedom fighter and social activist who dedicated her life to the empowerment of women and the upliftment of rural communities. She worked closely with Vinoba Bhave, a prominent leader of the Bhoodan movement, which aimed to redistribute land to the landless.
People
Shanti + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanti 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
Shanti: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanti?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,919 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanti 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 178,611 US residents.
Is Shanti a common name?
We classify Shanti 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, 2,014 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanti most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanti was 2003, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanti is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shanti in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,166 people with the name Shanti, or 1.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,438 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 Shanti 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 Shanti?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanti leans strongly female. 2,871 people counted with this name were female (90.9%), compared with 289 male bearers (9.1%). 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 Shanti?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanti is Asian/Pacific Islander at 40.6%. The next largest groups are White (19.5%) and Black (17.7%). 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 Shanti most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shanti in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.6% (1,284 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 Shanti in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shanti a female name?
Yes, 93.0% of people registered as Shanti 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 Shanti still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shanti 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 Shanti 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 Shanti as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Shanti on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.