Shaleen
Meaning shadow or shade, derived from the Sanskrit word "chhaaya".
Name Census estimates that about 502 living Americans carry the first name Shaleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shaleen today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaleen births was 1986 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaleen. 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 Shaleen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
502
~ 1 in 682,778 Americans
Peak year
1986
23 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2007 SSA rank
#20,070
Tracked since 1945
Census
Shaleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 665 people with the first name Shaleen, which placed it at #16,809 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
#16,809
National first-name rank
People counted
665
665 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaleen is White at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.0%) and Hispanic (11.0%). 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 Shaleen 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 Shaleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.0% · 346
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.0% · 146
- Hispanic or Latino11.0% · 73
- Black or African American7.2% · 48
- Two or more races4.8% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 20
Popularity
Shaleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaleen from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 174 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
Shaleen 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 Shaleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaleens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaleen
Shaleen is a unisex name that has its origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India. It is believed to have emerged around the 5th century BCE and is derived from the Sanskrit word "Shalina," which means "calm" or "peaceful."
The name Shaleen gained popularity in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in regions where Sanskrit and its derivatives were widely spoken. It was often associated with the Hindu faith and cultural traditions, although its usage was not limited to any particular religion or community.
In ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, there are references to individuals with names similar to Shaleen, indicating its long-standing presence in the Indian cultural landscape. However, specific mentions of the name Shaleen itself are scarce in these ancient texts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shaleen can be found in the historical records of the Gupta Empire, which ruled over large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. During this period, the name was borne by several individuals, both men and women, from various social strata.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Shaleen. One of the most prominent was Shaleen Bhatia, an Indian actress and model who gained fame in the 1980s and 1990s for her roles in Bollywood films and television shows.
Another noteworthy individual was Shaleen Dixit, an Indian classical vocalist and Hindustani music exponent who lived during the 20th century. He was widely acclaimed for his contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Indian music.
In the field of literature, Shaleen Mukherjee was a renowned Indian author and poet who wrote extensively in Bengali and English during the late 20th century. His works explored themes of identity, culture, and societal issues.
Shaleen Malhotra was an Indian entrepreneur and businesswoman who founded and led several successful companies in the technology and e-commerce sectors in the early 21st century.
Shaleen Rakesh was an Indian social activist and human rights advocate who dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of marginalized communities, particularly women and children. Her work spanned several decades, and she received numerous accolades for her contributions.
People
Shaleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaleen 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
Shaleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 502 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaleen 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 682,778 US residents.
Is Shaleen a common name?
We classify Shaleen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 547 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaleen was 1986, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaleen is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 665 people with the name Shaleen, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,809 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 Shaleen 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 Shaleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaleen leans strongly female. 602 people counted with this name were female (90.1%), compared with 66 male bearers (9.9%). 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 Shaleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaleen is White at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.0%) and Hispanic (11.0%). 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 Shaleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shaleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.0% (346 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 Shaleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaleen 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 Shaleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaleen 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 Shaleen 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 share the name Shaleen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.