Sharayah
The name of Hebrew origin meaning "From the valley".
Name Census estimates that about 592 living Americans carry the first name Sharayah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharayah today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharayah births was 1987 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharayah. 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 Sharayah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
592
~ 1 in 578,977 Americans
Peak year
1987
63 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2020 SSA rank
#17,142
Tracked since 1985
Census
Sharayah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 559 people with the first name Sharayah, which placed it at #19,094 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
#19,094
National first-name rank
People counted
559
559 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharayah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharayah is White at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Sharayah 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 Sharayah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.8% · 351
- Black or African American13.4% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino10.7% · 60
- Two or more races9.3% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 7
Popularity
Sharayah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharayah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 264 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharayah 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 Sharayah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharayahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, Oregon recorded the most babies named Sharayah, while Ohio, New York, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharayah
The name Sharayah originates from the Arabic language and has its roots in the Middle Eastern region. It is believed to have emerged during the early Islamic period, around the 7th century CE. The name is derived from the Arabic word "shara'a," which means "to legislate" or "to enact laws."
In its earliest form, the name was spelled as "Shari'a" or "Sharia," referring to the Islamic religious law derived from the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. The addition of the suffix "-yah" transformed the name into a feminine form, making it suitable for use as a given name for girls.
While the name does not appear directly in the Quran or other Islamic scriptures, its connection to the concept of religious law and guidance makes it a name with deep spiritual and cultural significance for Muslims.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sharayah dates back to the 9th century CE when a renowned female scholar and poet, Sharayah bint al-Husayn, gained recognition for her literary works and contributions to Islamic philosophy.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sharayah. Among them is Sharayah al-Aqili (1023-1085), a prominent Shafi'i jurist and scholar from Baghdad, who made significant contributions to the study and interpretation of Islamic law.
Another notable figure is Sharayah al-Andalusi (1050-1127), a renowned female mathematician and astronomer from Al-Andalus (modern-day Spain). Her works on algebra and trigonometry were highly influential during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization.
In the 13th century, Sharayah bint Ahmad al-Baghdadi (1233-1292) was a celebrated Sufi mystic and poet from Baghdad. Her spiritual poetry and teachings on the mystical aspects of Islam gained her a widespread following.
More recently, Sharayah Nafis (1896-1977) was a prominent Egyptian feminist, writer, and activist who played a significant role in advocating for women's rights and social reform in the early 20th century.
While the name Sharayah has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has gained popularity among various communities around the world, transcending its initial religious and cultural boundaries.
People
Sharayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharayah 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
Sharayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 592 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharayah 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 578,977 US residents.
Is Sharayah a common name?
We classify Sharayah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 615 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharayah was 1987, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharayah 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 Sharayah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 559 people with the name Sharayah, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,094 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 Sharayah 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 Sharayah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharayah appears almost entirely female. Of the 560 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Sharayah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharayah is White at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Sharayah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sharayah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.8% (351 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 Sharayah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharayah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharayah 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 Sharayah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharayah 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 Sharayah 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 the name Sharayah?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Sharayah at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.