Shneor
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "brilliant, luminary".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Shneor. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shneor today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shneor births was 2011 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shneor. 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 Shneor. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2011
5 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2011 SSA rank
#14,035
Tracked since 2011
Popularity
Shneor: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Shneor 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 Shneor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Geography
Where Shneors live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shneor
The name Shneor has its origins in Hebrew and Yiddish culture, dating back several centuries. It is derived from the Hebrew word "shneur," which means "two lights" or "illumination." The name is closely associated with the Hasidic Jewish movement, particularly the Chabad-Lubavitch branch.
One of the earliest known references to the name Shneor is found in the 18th century, when Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812) founded the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. He was also known as the Alter Rebbe (Old Rabbi) and the Baal HaTanya, after his seminal work, the Tanya. Rabbi Shneur Zalman's teachings and writings had a profound impact on Hasidic Judaism and the Jewish community as a whole.
Another notable figure in history with the name Shneor was Rabbi Shneur Zalman Schneersohn (1862-1920), the fifth Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was born in Lyubavichi, Belarus, and played a significant role in spreading the teachings of Hasidism during a period of persecution and upheaval.
In the 20th century, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe, was a prominent figure who carried the name Shneor. He was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty and was widely recognized for his leadership, scholarship, and efforts to revitalize Jewish education and outreach worldwide.
Shneor Zalman Rubashkin (1959-) is a contemporary figure who bears the name. He is an American businessman and former executive of Agriprocessors, a kosher meat processing plant, who was convicted of financial fraud and sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2010.
Outside of the Hasidic Jewish community, the name Shneor is less common, but there have been a few notable individuals who carried it, such as Shneor Cheshin (1919-2010), an Israeli jurist who served as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Israel from 1966 to 1989.
While the name Shneor has its roots in Hebrew and Yiddish cultures, it has transcended its origins and gained recognition in various parts of the world, particularly among those with connections to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement and its teachings.
People
Shneor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shneor 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
Shneor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shneor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shneor 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Shneor a common name?
We classify Shneor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% 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 Shneor most popular?
The single biggest year for Shneor was 2011, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shneor is about 15 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 Shneor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shneor a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shneor 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 Shneor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shneor 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 Shneor 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 common is the name Shneor?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Shneor at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.