Sheenah
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Irish word "Sionna" meaning "estuary".
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Sheenah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sheenah today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sheenah births was 1981 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sheenah. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sheenah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
1981
16 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1989 SSA rank
#12,117
Tracked since 1981
Census
Sheenah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 127 people with the first name Sheenah, which placed it at #49,170 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
#49,170
National first-name rank
People counted
127
127 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
37.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sheenah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheenah is Black at 37.0%. The next largest groups are White (36.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.8%). 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 Sheenah 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 Sheenah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American37.0% · 47
- White36.2% · 46
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.8% · 15
- Two or more races10.2% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 2
Popularity
Sheenah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Sheenah 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 Sheenah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0 | 86 | 86 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Sheenah
The name Sheenah is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew name Sheinah, which means "beautiful" or "radiant." The name is a variation of the more common Hebrew name Sheina, with the addition of the letter "h" at the end.
In the Biblical scriptures, the name Sheenah is not explicitly mentioned. However, it is possible that it was used as a variant or diminutive form of other Hebrew names that carry similar meanings, such as Sarah or Shira, which also signify beauty and radiance.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sheenah can be traced back to the Middle Ages, particularly in Jewish communities across Europe and the Middle East. One notable historical figure bearing this name was Sheenah bat Yosef, a renowned Jewish scholar and poet who lived in 13th-century Spain. She was celebrated for her wisdom and literary works, which contributed to the rich cultural heritage of the Sephardic Jewish community.
Another significant figure in history with the name Sheenah was Sheenah ben Avraham, a Jewish philosopher and theologian from 16th-century Italy. He authored several influential works on Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah, which had a profound impact on the intellectual discourse of his time.
In more recent history, Sheenah Galili was an Israeli writer and journalist born in 1923. She was known for her insightful works that explored the complexities of the human experience and the struggles of the Jewish people in the diaspora.
Sheenah Freudenberger, born in 1982, is an American writer and author who has received critical acclaim for her novels and short stories. Her debut novel, "The Dissident," published in 2006, was widely praised for its exploration of cultural identity and the immigrant experience.
Lastly, Sheenah Hankin, born in 1943, is a British actress and director who has had a prolific career in theater, television, and film. She is particularly renowned for her performances in classical plays and her contributions to the British theatrical landscape.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Sheenah, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural heritage associated with this name.
People
Sheenah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sheenah 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
Sheenah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sheenah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sheenah 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Sheenah a common name?
We classify Sheenah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 86 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sheenah most popular?
The single biggest year for Sheenah was 1981, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sheenah is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sheenah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 127 people with the name Sheenah, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,170 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 Sheenah 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 Sheenah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sheenah leans strongly female. 131 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Sheenah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheenah is Black at 37.0%. The next largest groups are White (36.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.8%). 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 Sheenah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sheenah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.0% (47 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 Sheenah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sheenah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sheenah 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 Sheenah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sheenah 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 Sheenah 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 Sheenah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.