Sher
A masculine name of Persian origin meaning "lion".
Name Census estimates that about 262 living Americans carry the first name Sher. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 57.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Sher today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sher births was 2023 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sher. 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 Sher with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
262
~ 1 in 1,308,223 Americans
Peak year
2023
16 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,712
Tracked since 1953
Census
Sher in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,358 people with the first name Sher, which placed it at #9,982 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
#9,982
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,358 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
63.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sher
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sher is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.8%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Sher 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 Sher at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander63.8% · 866
- White26.8% · 364
- Black or African American4.5% · 61
- Two or more races3.1% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Sher
Sher is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 292 total registrations, 168 (57.5%) were male and 124 (42.5%) were female.
Sher as a male name
- Ranked #10,712 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (16 births)
Sher as a female name
- Ranked #18,736 in 2015
- 5 female births in 2015
- Peak: 1972 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sher on both sides of the split. Of the 1,356 people counted with this name, 716 were male (52.8%) and 640 were female (47.2%).
Popularity
Sher: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sher from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 62 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Sher remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sher 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 Sher during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sher
The name Sher has its origins in the Persian and Sanskrit languages, dating back to ancient times. In Persian, the word "sher" means "lion," and it was often used as a term of respect and admiration for someone who exhibited bravery and strength.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sher can be found in the Shahnameh, the epic poem written by the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. The poem features several characters with the name Sher, including Sher Khan and Sher Ali, who were depicted as valiant warriors.
In Sanskrit, the word "shera" also means "lion," and it was commonly used in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures. One notable figure in Hindu mythology with this name is Sher Singh, a powerful king mentioned in the Puranas, who was known for his courage and leadership.
Throughout history, the name Sher has been borne by many influential individuals. One of the most famous was Sher Shah Suri (1486-1545), an Afghan ruler who established the Sur Empire in northern India and is renowned for his administrative reforms and architectural achievements, including the construction of the Grand Trunk Road.
Another notable figure was Sher Ali Khan (1825-1879), the Emir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1879, who played a significant role in the Anglo-Afghan Wars and sought to maintain Afghanistan's independence from British colonial influence.
In the realm of literature, Sher Ali Muslih (1944-2005) was a renowned Afghan poet and writer, celebrated for his contributions to modern Pashto poetry and his efforts to promote Afghan culture and literature.
The name Sher also has connections to the Sikh faith, with Sher Singh Attariwalla (1807-1843) being a prominent Sikh military commander who fought against the British East India Company during the Anglo-Sikh Wars.
In more recent times, Sher Bahadur Deuba (born 1946) is a Nepalese politician who has served multiple terms as the Prime Minister of Nepal, most recently from 2017 to 2022.
While these are just a few examples, the name Sher has been carried by many notable individuals throughout history, reflecting its association with strength, bravery, and leadership across various cultures and regions.
People
Sher + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sher 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
Sher: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sher?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 262 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sher 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 1,308,223 US residents.
Is Sher a common name?
We classify Sher as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 292 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sher most popular?
The single biggest year for Sher was 2023, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sher is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sher in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,358 people with the name Sher, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,982 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 Sher 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 Sher?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sher on both sides of the split. Of the 1,356 people counted with this name, 716 were male (52.8%) and 640 were female (47.2%). 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 Sher?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sher is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.8%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Sher most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sher in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.8% (866 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 Sher in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sher a male name?
Yes, 57.5% of people registered as Sher in the SSA data are male. 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 Sher still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sher 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 Sher 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 Americans are named Sher?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.