Shya
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "modest" or "shy".
Name Census estimates that about 355 living Americans carry the first name Shya. It is a predominantly female name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Shya today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shya births was 2007 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shya. 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
355
~ 1 in 965,505 Americans
Peak year
2007
36 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2022 SSA rank
#8,329
Tracked since 1999
Gender
Gender distribution for Shya
Shya leans heavily female at 98.6% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shya as a male name
- Ranked #14,024 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2022 (5 births)
Shya as a female name
- Ranked #8,329 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (36 births)
Popularity
Shya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 184 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Shya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shya 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 Shya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Oklahoma, Texas recorded the most babies named Shya, while Texas, Oklahoma, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shya
The name Shya finds its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages in the world, dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word "shya," which means "dark" or "black," possibly referring to the color of one's hair or complexion.
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Puranas and the Mahabharata, the name Shya is mentioned as a variant of the name Shyama, which was often used to describe Lord Krishna, the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu. The name was associated with his dark complexion and was considered a term of endearment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shya can be found in the Harivamsa, an important Sanskrit text that narrates the life of Lord Krishna. The text mentions Shya as one of the names given to Krishna by his father, Vasudeva.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shya. One of the most famous was Shya Charan Nandi (1832-1905), a renowned Bengali writer and scholar who made significant contributions to the Bengali literary renaissance during the 19th century.
Another notable figure was Shya Prasad Mukherjee (1901-1953), an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the Minister of Industry and Supply in the Interim Government of India in 1946-1947. He played a crucial role in the independence movement and was a close associate of Jawaharlal Nehru.
In the field of music, Shya Narayan Shastri (1932-2007) was a celebrated Indian classical vocalist and composer, known for his contributions to the Khayal and Thumri genres of Hindustani classical music. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honor, in 2007.
Another notable figure was Shya Charan Debnath (1890-1969), a prominent Bengali scholar and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of the Bengali language and literature. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta from 1952 to 1958.
Lastly, Shya Shahi (1611-1661) was a Mughal emperor who ruled over the Indian subcontinent from 1628 to 1658. He was known for his patronage of art and architecture, and his reign saw the construction of several iconic monuments, including the Taj Mahal in Agra.
People
Shya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shya 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
Shya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 355 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shya 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 965,505 US residents.
Is Shya a common name?
We classify Shya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 359 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shya most popular?
The single biggest year for Shya was 2007, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shya is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shya a female name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Shya 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.