Sharma
A name of Sanskrit origin meaning "a moon rayed one".
Name Census estimates that about 341 living Americans carry the first name Sharma. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharma today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharma births was 1969 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharma. 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 Sharma with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
341
~ 1 in 1,005,145 Americans
Peak year
1969
24 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1983 SSA rank
#7,179
Tracked since 1935
Census
Sharma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 587 people with the first name Sharma, which placed it at #18,374 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
#18,374
National first-name rank
People counted
587
587 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharma is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%). 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 Sharma 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 Sharma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.4% · 290
- Black or African American27.1% · 159
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.3% · 90
- Two or more races4.9% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Sharma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharma from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 134 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
Sharma 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 Sharma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharmas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharma
Sharma is a name with its origins in the Sanskrit language and Hinduism. It is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word "Sharma," which means "happiness," "joy," or "bliss." The name is thought to have emerged around the 6th century BCE in ancient India, particularly in the northern regions of the subcontinent.
One of the earliest known references to the name Sharma can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas. In the Rig Veda, there is a mention of a sage named Sharma, who is believed to have composed several hymns and verses. The name also appears in various other Hindu texts, such as the Upanishads and the Puranas, often associated with sages, scholars, and spiritual leaders.
Throughout the centuries, the name Sharma has been borne by numerous notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Acharya Sharma, a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 5th century CE. He is credited with significant contributions to the field of mathematics, including the development of the concept of zero and the study of infinite series.
Another prominent figure was Ksemendra Sharma, a celebrated 11th-century Kashmiri polymath and writer. He authored numerous works on a wide range of subjects, including poetry, drama, and philosophy. His literary masterpiece, the "Samayamatrika," is a notable contribution to Sanskrit literature.
In the realm of spirituality, Swami Rama Tirtha Sharma (1873-1906) was a prominent figure in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a renowned Hindu monk, philosopher, and social reformer who played a significant role in the revival of Vedanta philosophy and the spread of Hindu teachings in the West.
Sharma has also been the name of several influential political leaders throughout history. One notable example is Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Sharma (1887-1961), a prominent Indian freedom fighter and statesman who served as the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh after India's independence.
Another influential figure was Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sharma (1924-2018), a renowned Indian statesman and three-time Prime Minister of India. He was a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was widely respected for his oratory skills and contributions to Indian politics.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have borne the name Sharma throughout history, reflecting its deep-rooted cultural and spiritual significance in the Indian subcontinent.
People
Sharma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharma 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
Sharma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 341 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharma 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 1,005,145 US residents.
Is Sharma a common name?
We classify Sharma as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 434 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharma most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharma was 1969, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharma is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 587 people with the name Sharma, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,374 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 Sharma 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 Sharma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharma leans strongly female. 494 people counted with this name were female (83.7%), compared with 96 male bearers (16.3%). 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 Sharma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharma is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%). 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 Sharma most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sharma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.4% (290 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 Sharma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharma a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharma 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 Sharma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharma 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 Sharma 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 called Sharma?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.