Shi
A Chinese name meaning "scholar" or "warrior of the lion clan".
Name Census estimates that about 400 living Americans carry the first name Shi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Shi today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shi births was 2001 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shi. 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 Shi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
400
~ 1 in 856,886 Americans
Peak year
2001
28 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2015 SSA rank
#7,442
Tracked since 1974
Census
Shi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,301 people with the first name Shi, which placed it at #6,837 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
#6,837
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,301 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
79.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.1%. The next largest groups are White (8.7%) and Black (7.0%). 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 Shi 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 Shi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander79.1% · 1,821
- White8.7% · 201
- Black or African American7.0% · 161
- Two or more races2.4% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Shi
Shi leans heavily female at 80.6% of total registrations, but 80 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shi as a male name
- Ranked #7,442 in 2015
- 11 male births in 2015
- Peak: 2015 (11 births)
Shi as a female name
- Ranked #15,044 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2001 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shi on both sides of the split. Of the 2,298 people counted with this name, 1,338 were male (58.2%) and 960 were female (41.8%).
Popularity
Shi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shi 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 147 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
Shi 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 Shi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shi
The name Shi has its origins in various languages and cultures around the world, with a rich history dating back several centuries. In Chinese culture, the character "施" is pronounced "Shi" and means "to bestow" or "to give." This name has been used in China for centuries and is often associated with generosity and kindness.
In Japanese, the name Shi can be written as "志" or "史," with the former meaning "will" or "determination," and the latter meaning "history" or "chronicle." This name has been prevalent in Japan for generations and is often associated with strength of character and a respect for tradition.
In Sanskrit, the name Shi is derived from the word "Shiva," which is the name of one of the principal deities in Hinduism. Shiva is known as the Lord of Destruction and Transformation, and the name Shi is often associated with spiritual growth and inner transformation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shi can be found in the ancient Chinese text, the "Book of Changes" (I Ching), which dates back to the 6th century BCE. In this text, the name is associated with the concept of "nourishing" and is linked to the idea of nurturing growth and development.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Shi. One of the most famous is Shi Huangdi, also known as Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE - 210 BCE), the first emperor of a unified China and the founder of the Qin Dynasty. He is known for his ambitious construction projects, including the Great Wall of China and his famous terracotta army.
Another notable figure is Shi Nai'an (1296 - 1372), a Chinese writer and author of the famous novel "Outlaws of the Marsh," which is considered one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature.
In Japan, Shi Naoshi (1848 - 1924) was a prominent writer and poet during the Meiji period, known for his contributions to the development of modern Japanese literature.
In the realm of art, Shi Tao (1642 - 1707) was a renowned Chinese painter and calligrapher during the Qing Dynasty, known for his innovative techniques and influential style.
Finally, in the field of science, Shi Yingxin (1681 - 1755) was a Chinese astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the understanding of solar and lunar eclipses, as well as the calculation of planetary movements.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Shi, demonstrating the rich cultural heritage and significance of this name across various regions and time periods.
People
Shi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shi 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
Shi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 400 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shi 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 856,886 US residents.
Is Shi a common name?
We classify Shi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 412 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shi most popular?
The single biggest year for Shi was 2001, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shi is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,301 people with the name Shi, or 0.76 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,837 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 Shi 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 Shi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shi on both sides of the split. Of the 2,298 people counted with this name, 1,338 were male (58.2%) and 960 were female (41.8%). 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 Shi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 79.1%. The next largest groups are White (8.7%) and Black (7.0%). 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 Shi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.1% (1,821 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 Shi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shi a female name?
Yes, 80.6% of people registered as Shi 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 Shi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shi 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 Shi 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 Shi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.