Shikha
A feminine Indian given name meaning "point" or "summit".
Name Census estimates that about 271 living Americans carry the first name Shikha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shikha today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shikha births was 1996 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shikha. 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 Shikha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
271
~ 1 in 1,264,776 Americans
Peak year
1996
14 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2019 SSA rank
#15,292
Tracked since 1982
Census
Shikha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,678 people with the first name Shikha, which placed it at #8,613 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
#8,613
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,678 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shikha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shikha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.9%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Shikha 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 Shikha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.9% · 1,626
- White1.3% · 22
- Two or more races0.7% · 11
- Black or African American0.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 4
Popularity
Shikha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shikha from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 83 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Shikha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shikha 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 Shikha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shikha
The name Shikha has its origins in the Sanskrit language, one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages of the Indian subcontinent. It dates back to ancient times, with its earliest recorded use found in Hindu scriptures and texts.
The word "Shikha" in Sanskrit means "crest," "peak," or "summit," often referring to the tuft of hair left on the top of the head during certain Hindu rituals or ceremonies. This association with spiritual practices and traditions gives the name a significant cultural significance.
One of the earliest historical references to the name Shikha can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Shikha was the name of a sage who imparted wisdom and teachings to the Pandava princes, the central characters of the story.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shikha. One of the most prominent was Shikha Sharma (born 1958), an Indian banker who served as the Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank from 2009 to 2018, making her one of the few women to lead a major Indian bank.
Another notable Shikha was Shikha Pandey (born 1989), an Indian cricketer who played for the Indian women's national cricket team and represented India in various international tournaments, including the Women's Cricket World Cup.
In the field of literature, Shikha Malaviya (born 1969) is a renowned Indian poet, writer, and journalist who has published several collections of poetry and received numerous awards for her literary contributions.
Shikha Talsania (born 1981) is an Indian actress known for her roles in various Bollywood films and television shows, including the popular sitcom "Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai."
Shikha Kapur (born 1983) is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who has performed and taught Kathak, one of the major classical dance forms of India, both nationally and internationally.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Shikha throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of the Indian subcontinent and beyond.
People
Shikha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shikha 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
Shikha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shikha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shikha 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 1,264,776 US residents.
Is Shikha a common name?
We classify Shikha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 278 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shikha most popular?
The single biggest year for Shikha was 1996, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shikha is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shikha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,678 people with the name Shikha, or 0.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,613 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 Shikha 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 Shikha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shikha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,674 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Shikha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shikha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.9%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Shikha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shikha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.9% (1,626 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 Shikha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shikha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shikha 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 Shikha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shikha 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 Shikha 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 are named Shikha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.