Sharica
A feminine name with Persian roots meaning "one who is bright and radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 234 living Americans carry the first name Sharica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharica today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharica births was 1980 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharica. 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
234
~ 1 in 1,464,762 Americans
Peak year
1980
21 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
1996 SSA rank
#10,396
Tracked since 1973
Census
Sharica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 211 people with the first name Sharica, which placed it at #37,164 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
#37,164
National first-name rank
People counted
211
211 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharica is Black at 90.0%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.8%). 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 Sharica 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 Sharica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.0% · 190
- White3.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 2
- Two or more races0.9% · 2
Popularity
Sharica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharica from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 131 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Sharica remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharica 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 Sharica 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 Sharica
The given name Sharica has its origins in the Arabic language. It is believed to have been derived from the Arabic word "sharika," which means "partner" or "associate." This name gained prominence in the Middle East during the medieval period, particularly in regions with significant Islamic cultural influence.
In ancient Islamic texts and historical records, the name Sharica is sometimes associated with the concept of partnership or companionship, reflecting the values of unity and cooperation that were highly regarded in Islamic societies. However, there is limited evidence of its specific usage in religious scriptures or ancient texts from that era.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Sharica can be traced back to the 12th century, when it was occasionally used for both men and women in various parts of the Middle East. One notable figure who bore this name was Sharica al-Isfahani, a renowned Persian poet and scholar who lived in the late 12th century and was known for her contributions to Islamic literature and philosophy.
In the subsequent centuries, the name Sharica continued to be used sporadically across the Middle East and North Africa. In the 15th century, there was a prominent Egyptian scholar and historian named Sharica al-Qalqashandi, who authored several influential works on Islamic history and governance.
Another notable figure with this name was Sharica al-Makki, a 17th-century Moroccan Sufi scholar and mystic who was renowned for his spiritual teachings and writings on Islamic mysticism.
In the 19th century, Sharica al-Baghdadi was a distinguished Iraqi poet and writer who gained recognition for her contributions to Arabic literature and her advocacy for women's education.
Lastly, in the early 20th century, Sharica Husayn was an Egyptian feminist and activist who played a pivotal role in the Egyptian women's movement and fought for women's rights and social reform.
While the name Sharica has been used across various regions and time periods, it has maintained a strong connection to its Arabic linguistic roots and the cultural values associated with partnership, unity, and companionship.
People
Sharica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharica 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
Sharica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 234 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharica 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 1,464,762 US residents.
Is Sharica a common name?
We classify Sharica as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 249 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharica most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharica was 1980, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharica is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 211 people with the name Sharica, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,164 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 Sharica 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 Sharica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharica appears almost entirely female. Of the 208 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 Sharica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharica is Black at 90.0%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.8%). 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 Sharica most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sharica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.0% (190 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 Sharica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharica 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 Sharica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharica 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 Sharica 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 common is the name Sharica?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Sharica on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.