Sharmane
A feminine name derived from the Persian word "sharman" meaning "modest" or "bashful".
Name Census estimates that about 303 living Americans carry the first name Sharmane. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharmane today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharmane births was 1992 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharmane. 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
303
~ 1 in 1,131,202 Americans
Peak year
1992
19 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2000 SSA rank
#17,184
Tracked since 1947
Census
Sharmane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 364 people with the first name Sharmane, which placed it at #25,851 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
#25,851
National first-name rank
People counted
364
364 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharmane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharmane is Black at 61.3%. The next largest groups are White (21.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.3%). 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 Sharmane 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 Sharmane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.3% · 223
- White21.7% · 79
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 17
- Two or more races3.8% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 8
Popularity
Sharmane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharmane from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 92 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
Sharmane 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 Sharmane 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 Sharmane
The name Sharmane is of Aramaic origin, derived from the word "sharmanna" which means "guardian" or "protector." It emerged during the ancient Aramaic civilizations that flourished in the Middle East, particularly in regions like Syria, Iraq, and parts of Turkey, between the 8th and 7th centuries BCE.
Aramaic was a Semitic language widely used across the ancient Near East, and it served as the lingua franca of the Persian Empire. The name Sharmane would have been in use among the Aramaic-speaking populations during this time period.
While there are no definitive historical records mentioning the name Sharmane, it is likely that it was in use among the common people of the Aramaic civilizations. Names with similar roots, such as Sharmiel and Sharmana, have been found in ancient Aramaic inscriptions and texts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sharmane can be traced back to a 5th-century BCE Aramaic inscription found in the ancient city of Palmyra, located in modern-day Syria. The inscription mentions a woman named Sharmane, daughter of Zabdibel.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Sharmane. One such person was Sharmane of Edessa, a 6th-century CE Aramaic scholar and theologian from the city of Edessa (modern-day Şanlıurfa, Turkey). She was known for her work in translating Greek philosophical texts into Aramaic.
Another famous Sharmane was Sharmane al-Basri, an 8th-century CE Aramaic poet and storyteller from Basra, located in modern-day Iraq. Her work played a significant role in preserving and transmitting Aramaic oral traditions and literature.
In the 12th century, there was Sharmane the Scribe, a renowned calligrapher and manuscript illuminator from the city of Damascus. Her intricate calligraphic works adorned many religious texts and documents of the time.
During the 16th century, Sharmane al-Halabi was a notable Aramaic physician and herbalist from Aleppo, Syria. She is credited with contributing to the preservation and advancement of traditional Aramaic medicinal practices.
Lastly, Sharmane Abrahamian was an influential Aramaic scholar and linguist who lived in the late 19th century. Born in the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey), she played a crucial role in documenting and preserving the Aramaic language and its dialects.
People
Sharmane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharmane 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
Sharmane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharmane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 303 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharmane 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 1,131,202 US residents.
Is Sharmane a common name?
We classify Sharmane as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 335 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharmane most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharmane was 1992, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharmane is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharmane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 364 people with the name Sharmane, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,851 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 Sharmane 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 Sharmane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharmane leans strongly female. 356 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 12 male bearers (3.3%). 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 Sharmane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharmane is Black at 61.3%. The next largest groups are White (21.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.3%). 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 Sharmane most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sharmane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (223 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 Sharmane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharmane a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharmane 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 Sharmane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharmane 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 Sharmane 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 share the name Sharmane?
You can see how many people share the name Sharmane on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.