Shaquille
A masculine Arabic name meaning "handsome and excellent storyteller".
Name Census estimates that about 5,965 living Americans carry the first name Shaquille. It is a predominantly male name (93.7% of registrations). The average person named Shaquille today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaquille births was 1993 (1,911 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaquille. 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 Shaquille with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.0K
~ 1 in 57,461 Americans
Peak year
1993
1,911 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,956
Tracked since 1989
Census
Shaquille in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,433 people with the first name Shaquille, which placed it at #4,289 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
#4,289
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,433 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaquille
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaquille is Black at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Shaquille 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 Shaquille at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.9% · 3,939
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 180
- Two or more races3.5% · 157
- White1.8% · 82
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 35
Gender
Gender distribution for Shaquille
Shaquille leans heavily male at 93.7% of total registrations, but 387 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shaquille as a male name
- Ranked #3,956 in 2024
- 28 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (1,785 births)
Shaquille as a female name
- Ranked #4,991 in 1995
- 20 female births in 1995
- Peak: 1993 (126 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaquille leans strongly male. 4,176 people counted with this name were male (94.1%), compared with 263 female bearers (5.9%).
Popularity
Shaquille: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaquille 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 5,201 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
Shaquille 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 Shaquille during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaquilles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Florida recorded the most babies named Shaquille, while Iowa, West Virginia, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 129 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaquille
The given name Shaquille traces its origins to the Arabic language and Islamic culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "Shaker," which means "grateful" or "thankful." This name gained prominence during the medieval period and was particularly popular in regions with significant Arab and Muslim influence.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Shaquille can be found in historical texts from the 8th century, where it was mentioned as the name of a renowned Islamic scholar and theologian. This scholar, known as Shaquille ibn Khalid, was widely respected for his contributions to the study of Islamic jurisprudence and his expertise in the interpretation of the Qur'an.
Throughout the centuries, the name Shaquille has been associated with several notable figures in various fields. One such individual was Shaquille al-Andalusi, a renowned mathematician and astronomer from the 10th century who made significant contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge during the Islamic Golden Age.
Another historical figure bearing the name Shaquille was a renowned poet and author from the 12th century, known as Shaquille al-Gharnati. His poetic works were widely celebrated and served as an influential literary source during the medieval period.
In the realm of politics and leadership, Shaquille ibn Abi Amir, also known as Almanzor, was a prominent military commander and de facto ruler of the Caliphate of Cordoba in the late 10th century. His military prowess and strategic leadership played a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation of the Caliphate's territories.
Fast-forwarding to more recent times, Shaquille O'Neal, the legendary basketball player and athlete, has undoubtedly been one of the most famous bearers of this name. Born in 1972, O'Neal's athletic achievements and charismatic personality have made him a household name worldwide, contributing to the increased popularity and recognition of the name Shaquille.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Shaquille
People
Shaquille + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaquille 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
Shaquille: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaquille?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,965 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaquille 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 57,461 US residents.
Is Shaquille a common name?
We classify Shaquille as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaquille most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaquille was 1993, when 1,911 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaquille 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 Shaquille in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,433 people with the name Shaquille, or 1.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,289 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 Shaquille 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 Shaquille?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaquille leans strongly male. 4,176 people counted with this name were male (94.1%), compared with 263 female bearers (5.9%). 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 Shaquille?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaquille is Black at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Shaquille most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shaquille in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (3,939 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 Shaquille in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaquille a male name?
Yes, 93.7% of people registered as Shaquille 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 Shaquille still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaquille 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 Shaquille 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 common is the name Shaquille?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.