Shia
A diminutive of Shiva, derived from Persian meaning "descendant of Ali".
Name Census estimates that about 3,143 living Americans carry the first name Shia. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Shia today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shia births was 2024 (224 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shia. 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 Shia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Shia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 109,053 Americans
Peak year
2024
224 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,201
Tracked since 1960
Census
Shia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,038 people with the first name Shia, which placed it at #7,483 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
#7,483
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,038 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shia is White at 51.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Hispanic (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 Shia 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 Shia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.8% · 1,055
- Black or African American22.1% · 450
- Hispanic or Latino11.8% · 240
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.5% · 133
- Two or more races6.2% · 126
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 34
Gender
Gender distribution for Shia
Shia is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,173 total registrations, 2,115 (66.7%) were male and 1,058 (33.3%) were female.
Shia as a male name
- Ranked #1,201 in 2024
- 170 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (170 births)
Shia as a female name
- Ranked #3,036 in 2024
- 54 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (88 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shia on both sides of the split. Of the 2,042 people counted with this name, 1,255 were male (61.5%) and 787 were female (38.5%).
Popularity
Shia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,229 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shia 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 Shia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Shia, while Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 105 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shia
The name Shia finds its origins in Arabic, with roots dating back to the early days of Islam in the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "Shi'a," which means "follower" or "partisan." This name is closely linked to the Shia branch of Islam, which emerged after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Shia can be found in the historical accounts of the early Islamic caliphates and the conflicts that arose between the Sunni and Shia sects. The name gained prominence as a designation for those who followed the teachings of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and his descendants.
Throughout Islamic history, there have been several notable figures bearing the name Shia. One of the most prominent was Shia al-Isfahani, a renowned Islamic scholar and historian who lived in the 10th century CE. He is renowned for his work "Kitab al-Aghani," a monumental collection of Arabic poetry and biographical accounts of poets.
Another important figure in Shia history was Shia al-Bukhari, a 9th-century Islamic scholar known for his contributions to the study of Hadith (the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad). His work, "Sahih al-Bukhari," is considered one of the most authoritative collections of Hadith in Sunni Islam.
In more recent times, Shia LaBeouf, an American actor born in 1986, has brought the name into the public spotlight. Known for his roles in films such as "Transformers" and "Fury," he has garnered both critical acclaim and media attention for his acting career and personal life.
Shia Kapos, an American journalist and writer born in the mid-20th century, is also a notable figure associated with this name. She has worked for various publications, including the Chicago Sun-Times and Crain's Chicago Business, covering topics related to politics and business.
It is worth noting that while the name Shia has its roots in Arabic and Islamic culture, it has transcended these boundaries and has been adopted by various cultures and communities around the world, often with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation.
People
Shia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shia 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
Shia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shia 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 109,053 US residents.
Is Shia a common name?
We classify Shia as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,173 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shia most popular?
The single biggest year for Shia was 2024, when 224 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shia is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,038 people with the name Shia, or 0.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,483 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 Shia 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 Shia?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shia on both sides of the split. Of the 2,042 people counted with this name, 1,255 were male (61.5%) and 787 were female (38.5%). 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 Shia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shia is White at 51.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Hispanic (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 Shia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.8% (1,055 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 Shia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shia a male name?
Yes, 66.7% of people registered as Shia 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 Shia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shia 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 Shia 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 Shia as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Shia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.