Shirel
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "my song" or "composition".
Name Census estimates that about 348 living Americans carry the first name Shirel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shirel today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shirel births was 2022 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shirel. 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.
People living today
348
~ 1 in 984,926 Americans
Peak year
2022
25 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,930
Tracked since 1954
Popularity
Shirel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shirel from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 133 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Shirel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shirel 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 Shirel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shirels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Shirel, while Florida, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shirel
The name Shirel is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language. It is a relatively modern name, with its first recorded use dating back to the late 20th century. The name is thought to be a combination of the Hebrew words "shir" meaning "song" and "el" meaning "God" or "mighty one."
While the exact origin of the name is unclear, some historians suggest that it may have been derived from the biblical name Shira, which is mentioned in the Book of Exodus. Shira was the name of the sister of Moses, who is celebrated for leading the Israelites in a song of praise after their miraculous crossing of the Red Sea.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shirel was Shirel Azulai, an Israeli singer and songwriter born in 1975. She gained popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s for her unique blend of traditional Middle Eastern music and contemporary pop influences.
Another notable figure with the name Shirel was Shirel Berkovic, an Israeli tennis player born in 1983. She achieved a career-high ranking of No. 45 in the world and won several international tournaments during her professional career.
In the field of academia, Shirel Guez is a distinguished Israeli computer scientist and professor at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. She has made significant contributions to the study of algorithms and data structures.
Shirel Perelstein, born in 1985, is an Israeli artist known for her intricate and thought-provoking installations. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and she has received numerous awards and accolades for her innovative approach to art.
Lastly, Shirel Mashiach is an Israeli journalist and author born in 1976. She has written several books on contemporary Israeli society and has gained recognition for her insightful commentary on social and political issues.
While the name Shirel is relatively new and its origins are not entirely clear, it has already been borne by a diverse group of accomplished individuals in various fields, ranging from music and sports to academia and the arts.
People
Shirel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shirel 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
Shirel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shirel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 348 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shirel 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 984,926 US residents.
Is Shirel a common name?
We classify Shirel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 360 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shirel most popular?
The single biggest year for Shirel was 2022, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shirel is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shirel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shirel 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.
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.