Shakari
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "grateful one".
Name Census estimates that about 307 living Americans carry the first name Shakari. It is a predominantly female name (94.7% of registrations). The average person named Shakari today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shakari births was 1990 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shakari. 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
307
~ 1 in 1,116,464 Americans
Peak year
1990
50 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,720
Tracked since 1987
Census
Shakari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 333 people with the first name Shakari, which placed it at #27,468 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
#27,468
National first-name rank
People counted
333
333 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shakari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakari is Black at 87.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Shakari 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 Shakari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.1% · 290
- White4.5% · 15
- Two or more races4.2% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Shakari
Shakari leans heavily female at 94.7% of total registrations, but 17 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shakari as a male name
- Ranked #13,720 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1995 (7 births)
Shakari as a female name
- Ranked #19,382 in 2010
- 5 female births in 2010
- Peak: 1990 (50 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakari leans strongly female. 285 people counted with this name were female (85.3%), compared with 49 male bearers (14.7%).
Popularity
Shakari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shakari from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 172 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shakari 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 Shakari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shakaris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Florida, Illinois, Georgia recorded the most babies named Shakari, while Louisiana, Georgia, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shakari
The name Shakari has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, with roots tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Arabic word "shakara," which means "to give thanks" or "to be grateful." The name's origin reflects the Islamic tradition of expressing gratitude to Allah for the gift of a child.
In the early days of Islam, the name Shakari was primarily given to boys born in the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding regions. It was a way for parents to express their appreciation for the newborn and to instill in them the virtue of gratitude from a young age.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Shakari can be found in historical records and genealogical texts from the 7th and 8th centuries CE. During this time, Islam was rapidly spreading across the Middle East, and many Arabic names gained popularity among the new converts.
One of the most notable historical figures to bear the name Shakari was Shakari al-Basri, a renowned Islamic scholar and theologian born in Basra, Iraq, in the 8th century CE (725-803 CE). He was known for his extensive knowledge of Quranic exegesis and his contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence.
Another prominent individual with the name Shakari was Shakari al-Dimashqi, a Syrian poet and writer who lived in Damascus during the 11th century CE (1020-1095 CE). His poetic works were celebrated for their eloquence and emotional depth, and he is considered one of the greatest poets of the Islamic Golden Age.
In the 12th century CE, Shakari al-Andalusi (1120-1190 CE) was a distinguished mathematician and astronomer from Al-Andalus (present-day Spain). He made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and authored several treatises on celestial mechanics.
Moving forward in history, the name Shakari was also borne by Shakari al-Qurashi, a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Mecca who lived in the 15th century CE (1380-1455 CE). He was highly respected for his expertise in Islamic law and his efforts to preserve and transmit the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.
In the 19th century, Shakari ibn Abd al-Qadir (1810-1880 CE) was a prominent Algerian leader and military commander who played a significant role in the resistance against French colonial rule. He is remembered for his unwavering determination and his efforts to defend the sovereignty of his homeland.
While the name Shakari has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has transcended geographic and cultural boundaries over time. Its meaning of gratitude and appreciation has resonated with people from diverse backgrounds, making it a name that continues to be cherished and bestowed upon children across the globe.
People
Shakari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shakari 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
Shakari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shakari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 307 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shakari 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 1,116,464 US residents.
Is Shakari a common name?
We classify Shakari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 318 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shakari most popular?
The single biggest year for Shakari was 1990, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shakari is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shakari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 333 people with the name Shakari, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,468 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 Shakari 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 Shakari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shakari leans strongly female. 285 people counted with this name were female (85.3%), compared with 49 male bearers (14.7%). 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 Shakari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shakari is Black at 87.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Shakari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shakari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (290 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 Shakari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shakari a female name?
Yes, 94.7% of people registered as Shakari 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 Shakari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shakari 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 Shakari 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 Shakari?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Shakari at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.