Shoaib
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "he who attends people well".
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Shoaib. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shoaib today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shoaib births was 2003 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shoaib. 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 Shoaib with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
2003
14 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,709
Tracked since 1983
Census
Shoaib in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 756 people with the first name Shoaib, which placed it at #15,268 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
#15,268
National first-name rank
People counted
756
756 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
89.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shoaib
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shoaib is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (5.3%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Shoaib 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 Shoaib at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander89.8% · 679
- White5.3% · 40
- Two or more races2.6% · 20
- Black or African American1.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.1% · 1
Popularity
Shoaib: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shoaib from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 68 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Shoaib remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shoaib 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 Shoaib during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shoaibs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shoaib
The name Shoaib originates from the Arabic language and is derived from the root word "sha'b," which means "people" or "tribe." It is believed to have been in use since the early days of Islam, as it appears in the Quran, the holy book of Muslims.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shoaib can be found in the Quran, where it refers to the prophet Shuaib, who was sent to the people of Midian. The story of Shuaib is mentioned in several chapters of the Quran, including chapters 7, 11, and 26. In these chapters, Shuaib is depicted as a messenger of God who preached monotheism and moral values to his people.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Shoaib. One of the most famous was Shoaib Ahmed (1515-1595), a renowned Sufi saint and scholar from present-day Pakistan. He was known for his spiritual teachings and his contributions to the spread of Islam in the region.
Another notable figure with the name Shoaib was Shoaib Daniyal (1699-1763), a Persian poet and writer who lived during the Mughal Empire. He was renowned for his mastery of the Persian language and his contributions to the literary tradition of the time.
In more recent times, Shoaib Akhtar (born 1975) is a former Pakistani cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in the history of the sport. He played international cricket for Pakistan from 1997 to 2011 and is considered a legend of the game.
Shoaib Malik (born 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who has represented his country in all three formats of the game. He is considered one of the most successful all-rounders in Pakistani cricket history and has captained the national team on several occasions.
Shoaib Sultan Khan (born 1987) is a Pakistani squash player who has achieved significant success on the professional squash circuit. He has won numerous titles and has been ranked among the top players in the world.
Overall, the name Shoaib has a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in the Islamic world. Its origins can be traced back to the early days of Islam, and it has been borne by numerous notable figures throughout history, from religious scholars and poets to athletes and performers.
People
Shoaib + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shoaib 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
Shoaib: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shoaib?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shoaib 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Shoaib a common name?
We classify Shoaib as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 210 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shoaib most popular?
The single biggest year for Shoaib was 2003, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shoaib is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shoaib in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 756 people with the name Shoaib, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,268 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 Shoaib 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 Shoaib?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shoaib appears almost entirely male. Of the 758 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Shoaib?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shoaib is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (5.3%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Shoaib most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shoaib in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (679 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 Shoaib in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shoaib a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shoaib 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 Shoaib still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shoaib 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 Shoaib 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 Shoaib?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.