Shacara
An Arabic feminine name meaning "one with beautiful hair".
Name Census estimates that about 319 living Americans carry the first name Shacara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shacara today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shacara births was 1989 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shacara. 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
319
~ 1 in 1,074,465 Americans
Peak year
1989
34 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2009 SSA rank
#16,942
Tracked since 1981
Census
Shacara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 285 people with the first name Shacara, which placed it at #30,528 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
#30,528
National first-name rank
People counted
285
285 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shacara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shacara is Black at 90.9%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Shacara 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 Shacara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.9% · 259
- White3.9% · 11
- Two or more races2.5% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Shacara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shacara from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 163 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shacara 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 Shacara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shacaras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shacara
The name Shacara is believed to have originated from the Quechua language, spoken by the indigenous people of the central Andes region of South America, particularly in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The Quechua were part of the Inca civilization, which flourished from the 13th to the 16th century.
Shacara is thought to be derived from the Quechua word "shacapa," which means "to sprout" or "to grow." This suggests that the name may have been associated with fertility, growth, or new beginnings in the Quechua culture. It's worth noting that the exact spelling and pronunciation of the name may have varied across different Quechua dialects and regions.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, some historians believe that it may have been used by the Quechua people as a personal name or as a reference to certain rituals or practices related to agriculture or the cycles of nature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shacara dates back to the 16th century, during the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. It is mentioned in a historical account by a Spanish chronicler, describing a local Quechua leader or chieftain who bore this name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Shacara, although information about their lives and accomplishments may be limited due to the scarcity of written records from that era. Here are five examples:
1. Shacara Apu, a Quechua warrior and leader who led resistance against the Spanish conquistadors in the late 16th century.
2. Shacara Inca, a high-ranking noble in the Inca Empire during the reign of Huayna Capac in the early 16th century.
3. Shacara Huallpa, a Quechua poet and storyteller who lived in the 17th century and is known for preserving oral traditions and folklore.
4. Shacara Cusi, a Quechua healer and herbalist active in the 18th century, renowned for her knowledge of traditional medicinal plants and remedies.
5. Shacara Yupanqui, a Quechua architect and builder who oversaw the construction of several notable structures in the city of Cusco during the 17th century.
While the name Shacara has its roots in the ancient Quechua culture, it has likely evolved and taken on different meanings and associations over time as it spread to other regions and communities.
People
Shacara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shacara 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
Shacara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shacara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 319 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shacara 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 1,074,465 US residents.
Is Shacara a common name?
We classify Shacara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 333 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shacara most popular?
The single biggest year for Shacara was 1989, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shacara is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shacara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 285 people with the name Shacara, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,528 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 Shacara 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 Shacara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shacara appears almost entirely female. Of the 279 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Shacara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shacara is Black at 90.9%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Shacara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shacara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.9% (259 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 Shacara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shacara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shacara 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.
Is Shacara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shacara 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 Shacara 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 are named Shacara?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Shacara at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.