Shyhiem
A unique invented name potentially blending "shy" and an -iem suffix.
Name Census estimates that about 155 living Americans carry the first name Shyhiem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shyhiem today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shyhiem births was 1997 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shyhiem. 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
155
~ 1 in 2,211,318 Americans
Peak year
1997
20 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2006 SSA rank
#13,713
Tracked since 1994
Census
Shyhiem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 114 people with the first name Shyhiem, which placed it at #51,355 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
#51,355
National first-name rank
People counted
114
114 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shyhiem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shyhiem is Black at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Shyhiem 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 Shyhiem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.1% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 10
- Two or more races6.1% · 7
- White5.3% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 2
Popularity
Shyhiem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shyhiem from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 89 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Shyhiem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shyhiem 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 Shyhiem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shyhiems live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shyhiem
The name Shyhiem has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, which was spoken in the region of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3000 BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sumerian words "shi" meaning "life" and "hiem" meaning "eternal," thus suggesting a meaning of "eternal life" or "everlasting life."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shyhiem can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem that dates back to around 2100 BCE. The name appears as a minor character, a priest or wise man who advises the protagonist Gilgamesh on his quest for immortality.
During the Babylonian era, around 2000 BCE, the name Shyhiem was also found inscribed on clay tablets and cylinder seals, indicating its use among the elite classes of the time. However, it is not until the later Akkadian period (around 1800 BCE) that we find more widespread use of the name among commoners and lower social classes.
In the ancient Sumerian religion, the name Shyhiem was often associated with the god Enki, the deity of wisdom, creation, and the life-giving waters. Some scholars believe that the name may have been used as a way to seek the god's blessings for a long and prosperous life.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shyhiem. One of the earliest was Shyhiem of Uruk, a high priest and astronomer who lived in the city of Uruk (modern-day Warka, Iraq) around 2500 BCE. He is credited with developing one of the earliest known calendars based on the movements of celestial bodies.
Another notable figure was Shyhiem the Scribe, a Sumerian scholar and poet who lived in the city of Nippur around 2200 BCE. Several of his literary works, including hymns and lamentations, have been preserved on clay tablets and provide valuable insights into the culture and beliefs of the time.
In the 6th century BCE, there was Shyhiem the Wise, a Persian philosopher and teacher who is said to have influenced the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Plato. His ideas on the nature of the soul and the concept of reincarnation were widely discussed in the ancient world.
During the Islamic Golden Age (8th to 13th centuries CE), there was a renowned scholar and physician named Shyhiem al-Razi, who made significant contributions to the fields of medicine, chemistry, and philosophy. He was born in the city of Ray (modern-day Tehran, Iran) in 865 CE and is credited with writing numerous influential treatises on various medical topics.
Finally, in the 18th century, there was Shyhiem ibn Abi al-Qasim, a Moroccan poet and mystic who was known for his beautiful and introspective poetry. He was born in Fez in 1730 and was a prominent figure in the literary circles of his time, known for his mastery of the Arabic language and his profound spiritual insights.
People
Shyhiem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shyhiem 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
Shyhiem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shyhiem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 155 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shyhiem 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 2,211,318 US residents.
Is Shyhiem a common name?
We classify Shyhiem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 158 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shyhiem most popular?
The single biggest year for Shyhiem was 1997, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shyhiem is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shyhiem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 114 people with the name Shyhiem, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,355 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 Shyhiem 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 Shyhiem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shyhiem leans strongly male. 113 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 2 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Shyhiem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shyhiem is Black at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Shyhiem most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shyhiem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.1% (89 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 Shyhiem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shyhiem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shyhiem 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 Shyhiem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shyhiem 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 Shyhiem 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 have the name Shyhiem?
See how many people have the name Shyhiem on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.