Sharaya
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman".
Name Census estimates that about 447 living Americans carry the first name Sharaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharaya today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharaya births was 1991 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharaya. 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 Sharaya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
447
~ 1 in 766,788 Americans
Peak year
1991
33 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,255
Tracked since 1980
Census
Sharaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 376 people with the first name Sharaya, which placed it at #25,264 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
#25,264
National first-name rank
People counted
376
376 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharaya is Black at 45.7%. The next largest groups are White (29.8%) and Two or More Races (10.9%). 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 Sharaya 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 Sharaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.7% · 172
- White29.8% · 112
- Two or more races10.9% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Sharaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharaya 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 168 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
Sharaya 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 Sharaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharayas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharaya
The name Sharaya is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "sharaya," which means "refuge" or "shelter." The name is thought to have originated around the 5th century BCE, during the classical period of Indian history.
In the ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, the word "sharaya" is often used in a spiritual context, referring to the idea of finding refuge or shelter in the divine. It is possible that the name was initially given to children as a way of invoking divine protection and guidance.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Sharaya can be found in ancient Indian texts and inscriptions from the Gupta Empire, which ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent from the 4th to the 6th century CE. One notable figure from this period was Sharaya Gupta, a renowned scholar and philosopher who lived during the reign of Chandragupta II.
Throughout history, the name Sharaya has been borne by several notable individuals. In the 9th century CE, Sharaya was the name of a famous Indian mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry. Another notable Sharaya was a 12th-century Indian poet and mystic who wrote extensively on the themes of love and devotion.
During the medieval period, the name Sharaya gained popularity among the Muslim communities of South Asia. One famous bearer of the name was Sharaya Begum, a 16th-century Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Akbar.
In more recent times, Sharaya has been the name of several influential figures in various fields. Sharaya Devi (1892-1978) was an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who played a significant role in the struggle for India's independence. Sharaya Ghoshal (born 1984) is a renowned Indian playback singer and actress who has won numerous awards for her contributions to the Indian film industry.
It is worth noting that while the name Sharaya has its origins in South Asia, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among communities with Indian or South Asian roots. The name continues to be widely used today, carrying with it the rich cultural and historical significance of its Sanskrit roots.
People
Sharaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharaya 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
Sharaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 447 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharaya 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 766,788 US residents.
Is Sharaya a common name?
We classify Sharaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 462 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharaya was 1991, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharaya is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 376 people with the name Sharaya, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,264 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 Sharaya 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 Sharaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 380 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 Sharaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharaya is Black at 45.7%. The next largest groups are White (29.8%) and Two or More Races (10.9%). 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 Sharaya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sharaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (172 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 Sharaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharaya 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 Sharaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharaya 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 Sharaya 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 Americans are named Sharaya?
Want to know how many people have the name Sharaya? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.