Sheina
A Hebrew name meaning "beautiful" or "ornamental".
Name Census estimates that about 459 living Americans carry the first name Sheina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sheina today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sheina births was 1989 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sheina. 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 Sheina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
459
~ 1 in 746,741 Americans
Peak year
1989
21 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,429
Tracked since 1960
Census
Sheina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 476 people with the first name Sheina, which placed it at #21,371 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
#21,371
National first-name rank
People counted
476
476 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sheina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheina is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (20.2%) and Hispanic (15.1%). 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 Sheina 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 Sheina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.5% · 250
- Black or African American20.2% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino15.1% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.0% · 38
- Two or more races4.0% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Sheina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sheina from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 144 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Sheina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sheina 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 Sheina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sheinas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sheina
The name Sheina has its origins in the Hebrew language and Jewish culture. It is a feminine form derived from the Hebrew name Sheyna, meaning "beautiful" or "lovely". The name likely emerged in the Middle Ages among Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe, where Hebrew names were commonly used.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sheina can be found in the writings of the renowned 16th-century Jewish philosopher and scholar, Rabbi Moses Isserles, also known as the Rema. In his work, he mentions a woman named Sheina, suggesting the name's usage during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sheina. One such person was Sheina Gorn (1923-2014), a Polish-American computer scientist and pioneer in the field of computer programming languages. She made significant contributions to the development of the COBOL programming language.
Another prominent figure was Sheina Vaserman (1914-2011), a Soviet-Ukrainian painter and art teacher. She was known for her vibrant and expressive works, often depicting scenes from everyday life in Ukraine.
In the realm of literature, Sheina Bronfen (born 1952) is a notable Swiss academic and literary critic. She has written extensively on topics such as gender studies, psychoanalysis, and literary theory.
The name Sheina was also borne by Sheina Grandis (1886-1975), a Russian-born American actress and vaudeville performer. She was known for her comedic talents and appeared in various stage productions and films during the early 20th century.
Lastly, Sheina Divatia (1907-1997) was an Indian social worker and activist who dedicated her life to promoting women's education and empowerment in India. She founded several educational institutions and played a crucial role in advancing women's rights in the country.
While the name Sheina may not be as common today, it holds a rich cultural heritage and has been carried by individuals who have made significant contributions in various fields throughout history.
People
Sheina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sheina 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
Sheina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sheina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 459 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sheina 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 746,741 US residents.
Is Sheina a common name?
We classify Sheina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 478 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sheina most popular?
The single biggest year for Sheina was 1989, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sheina is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sheina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 476 people with the name Sheina, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,371 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 Sheina 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 Sheina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sheina appears almost entirely female. Of the 466 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Sheina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheina is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (20.2%) and Hispanic (15.1%). 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 Sheina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sheina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.5% (250 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 Sheina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sheina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sheina 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 Sheina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sheina 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 Sheina 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 Sheina?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.