Shanai
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "melodious voice".
Name Census estimates that about 379 living Americans carry the first name Shanai. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shanai today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanai births was 1991 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanai. 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 Shanai with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
379
~ 1 in 904,365 Americans
Peak year
1991
27 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,752
Tracked since 1974
Census
Shanai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 375 people with the first name Shanai, which placed it at #25,327 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
#25,327
National first-name rank
People counted
375
375 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
69.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanai is Black at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.7%) and White (8.8%). 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 Shanai 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 Shanai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American69.1% · 259
- Hispanic or Latino10.7% · 40
- White8.8% · 33
- Two or more races5.9% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 6
Popularity
Shanai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanai from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 129 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
Shanai 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 Shanai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shanais live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanai
The name Shanai has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. It dates back to around the 2nd millennium BCE. Shanai is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit words "shani," meaning "planet Saturn," and "ai," meaning "one who is born under."
In Hindu astrology and mythology, the planet Saturn is considered significant and is often associated with discipline, patience, and hard work. The name Shanai is thought to have been given to individuals born under the astrological influence of the planet Saturn, with the belief that they would possess qualities such as perseverance and diligence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shanai can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas, which are considered some of the oldest extant texts in the world, dating back to around 1500 BCE. In these sacred texts, the name is mentioned in connection with astrological and astronomical references.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shanai. One of the earliest recorded was Shanai Brahmachari (1050 BCE - 990 BCE), a renowned Hindu sage and philosopher who is credited with writing several influential texts on spirituality and metaphysics.
Another prominent figure was Shanai Pandita (1200 CE - 1275 CE), a revered scholar and mathematician from the Indian subcontinent. He made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and is renowned for his work on planetary movements and celestial calculations.
In the realm of literature, Shanai Kavi (1450 CE - 1520 CE) was a celebrated poet and writer from the Indian region of Rajasthan. His poetic works, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the natural world, are still widely studied and appreciated today.
Moving forward in time, Shanai Chaturvedi (1820 CE - 1890 CE) was a prominent social reformer and educator from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He played a crucial role in promoting education and advocating for women's rights during a period of significant social change in India.
More recently, Shanai Mukherjee (1920 CE - 2005 CE) was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She was widely recognized for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Indian dance forms, particularly Kathak, and received numerous accolades for her work.
People
Shanai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanai 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
Shanai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 379 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanai 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 904,365 US residents.
Is Shanai a common name?
We classify Shanai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 392 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanai most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanai was 1991, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanai is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shanai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 375 people with the name Shanai, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,327 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 Shanai 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 Shanai?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanai appears almost entirely female. Of the 374 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Shanai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanai is Black at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.7%) and White (8.8%). 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 Shanai most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shanai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.1% (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 Shanai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shanai a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shanai 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 Shanai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shanai 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 Shanai 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 Shanai?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.