Shifra
A feminine Hebrew name meaning "beautiful" or "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 1,586 living Americans carry the first name Shifra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shifra today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shifra births was 2017 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shifra. 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 Shifra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 216,112 Americans
Peak year
2017
58 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,486
Tracked since 1930
Census
Shifra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,289 people with the first name Shifra, which placed it at #10,381 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
#10,381
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,289 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shifra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shifra is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Shifra 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 Shifra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.3% · 1,229
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 19
- Two or more races0.7% · 9
- Black or African American0.6% · 8
Popularity
Shifra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shifra from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 425 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Shifra remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shifra 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 Shifra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shifras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shifra
The name Shifra originates from Hebrew and has its roots in the ancient Near Eastern region. It is derived from the Hebrew word "shafar," which means "to be beautiful" or "to shine." The name is often associated with the biblical figure Shifra, who was one of the Hebrew midwives who defied Pharaoh's orders to kill newborn Hebrew boys.
In the Book of Exodus, Shifra and her fellow midwife, Puah, are praised for their courage and compassion in allowing the Hebrew infants to live. This biblical reference has contributed to the name's enduring popularity among Jews throughout history. The name is also believed to have been used in ancient Mesopotamia, as evidenced by its appearance in cuneiform tablets and inscriptions.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Shifra dates back to the 2nd century CE when it was mentioned in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud includes a reference to a woman named Shifra who was known for her wisdom and virtue.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shifra. One of the most famous was Shifra Hakohen (1588-1663), a renowned Jewish scholar and author from Krakow, Poland. Her works on Jewish law and ethics were highly influential during her lifetime and beyond.
Another notable Shifra was Shifra Segal (1836-1911), a pioneering educator and activist in the Jewish community of Odessa, Ukraine. She founded one of the first modern Jewish schools for girls in the region and played a significant role in promoting women's education.
In the 20th century, Shifra Hayman (1908-2001) was a prominent Israeli artist known for her vibrant paintings and illustrations. Her works often depicted scenes from the Bible and Jewish folklore, helping to preserve cultural traditions through her art.
Shifra Stern (1924-2019) was a Holocaust survivor and author who chronicled her experiences during World War II in her memoir, "The Cattle Truck," which provided a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.
Shifra Goldman (1926-2011) was an American-Israeli author and playwright who wrote extensively about the challenges and triumphs of the early pioneers in the establishment of the state of Israel. Her works were celebrated for their insight into the Israeli experience and their contribution to the nation's cultural heritage.
People
Shifra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shifra 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
Shifra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shifra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,586 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shifra 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 216,112 US residents.
Is Shifra a common name?
We classify Shifra as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,646 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shifra most popular?
The single biggest year for Shifra was 2017, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shifra is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shifra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,289 people with the name Shifra, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,381 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 Shifra 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 Shifra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shifra appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,292 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Shifra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shifra is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Shifra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shifra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.3% (1,229 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 Shifra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shifra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shifra 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 Shifra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shifra 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 Shifra 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 common is the name Shifra?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Shifra at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.