Shige
An Asian masculine given name with varying meanings, including "disciplined" or "flourishing".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Shige. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shige today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shige births was 1921 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shige. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shige. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1921
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1921 SSA rank
#4,885
Tracked since 1921
Popularity
Shige: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Shige 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 Shige during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Shige
The name Shige is derived from the Japanese language and is believed to have originated in the 8th century during the Nara period. It is a gender-neutral name that can be given to both boys and girls. The name is thought to have its roots in the word "shige," which means "luxuriant" or "prosperous" in Japanese.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shige can be found in the Kojiki, an ancient Japanese chronicle dating back to 712 AD. The text mentions a figure named Shige no Nagaochi, who was a prominent government official during the reign of Emperor Temmu in the late 7th century.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shige. In the 12th century, Shige Taira was a samurai warrior who fought in the Genpei War between the Minamoto and Taira clans. He was born in 1158 and died in 1184.
Another famous bearer of the name was Shige Asakura, a 16th-century samurai lord and military strategist. He was born in 1534 and played a significant role in the Sengoku period, a time of constant civil war in Japan.
During the Edo period, Shige Tachibana was a renowned poet and calligrapher who lived from 1682 to 1768. His works were highly praised for their elegance and creativity.
In more recent times, Shige Nagai was a Japanese author and playwright who was born in 1925 and passed away in 2019. He is best known for his novels and plays that explored themes of love, loss, and human resilience.
Shige Higashi, born in 1930, was a Japanese artist and sculptor who gained international recognition for his abstract and minimalist works. His sculptures can be found in various museums and public spaces around the world.
The name Shige has a rich history and cultural significance in Japan, and it has been borne by numerous individuals who have made notable contributions in various fields throughout the centuries.
People
Shige + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shige 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
Shige: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shige?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shige 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 - US residents.
Is Shige a common name?
We classify Shige as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shige most popular?
The single biggest year for Shige was 1921, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shige is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Shige in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shige a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shige 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 Shige still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shige 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 Shige 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Shige?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.