Shekinah
A feminine name derived from Hebrew, meaning "dwelling of God".
Name Census estimates that about 2,071 living Americans carry the first name Shekinah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shekinah today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shekinah births was 2000 (109 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shekinah. 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
2.1K
~ 1 in 165,502 Americans
Peak year
2000
109 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,863
Tracked since 1976
Popularity
Shekinah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shekinah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 730 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shekinah 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 Shekinah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shekinahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Florida, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Shekinah, while Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shekinah
The name Shekinah originates from the Hebrew language and has its roots in ancient Jewish mysticism. It is derived from the Hebrew word "Shekhinah," which translates to "the dwelling or settling" and refers to the divine presence of God.
In Kabbalah, the esoteric Jewish mystical tradition, Shekinah represents the feminine aspect of God's presence on Earth. It is often associated with the indwelling of the divine in the physical realm, and the concept of the Shekinah has played a significant role in Jewish theological and spiritual thought throughout history.
The name Shekinah is not explicitly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), but the concept of the divine presence is alluded to in various passages. For instance, in the Book of Exodus, the Israelites were guided by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, representing the presence of God among them.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shekinah can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism compiled between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE. The Talmud discusses the concept of the Shekinah and its manifestations in various contexts.
Over the centuries, the name Shekinah has been borne by several notable individuals, including:
1. Shekinah Hadas (born 1936), an Israeli artist known for her mixed-media works and sculptures.
2. Shekinah Erza (born 1987), an Indonesian singer and actress.
3. Shekinah Glory Ministry (founded in the late 20th century), a non-denominational Christian ministry based in the United States.
4. Shekinah Shabazz (born 1934), an American author and activist, the daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.
5. Shekinah Renee King (born 2002), the granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
The name Shekinah has held spiritual and cultural significance throughout Jewish history and has also found its way into other traditions, particularly within certain Christian and New Age spiritual movements. Its connection to the divine presence and the feminine aspect of God has made it a powerful and symbolic name choice for many.
People
Shekinah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shekinah 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
Shekinah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shekinah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,071 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shekinah 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 165,502 US residents.
Is Shekinah a common name?
We classify Shekinah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,124 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shekinah most popular?
The single biggest year for Shekinah was 2000, when 109 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shekinah is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shekinah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shekinah 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.
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.