Sharena
A unique feminine name of unknown origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 493 living Americans carry the first name Sharena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharena today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharena births was 1985 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharena. 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
493
~ 1 in 695,242 Americans
Peak year
1985
55 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2003 SSA rank
#15,453
Tracked since 1969
Census
Sharena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 466 people with the first name Sharena, which placed it at #21,679 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
#21,679
National first-name rank
People counted
466
466 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharena is Black at 68.5%. The next largest groups are White (15.9%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Sharena 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 Sharena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.5% · 319
- White15.9% · 74
- Two or more races5.6% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 8
Popularity
Sharena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharena from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 250 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
Sharena 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 Sharena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Florida, Texas, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Sharena, while New York, North Carolina, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharena
The name Sharena is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, which was the classical language of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "sharen," which means "golden" or "radiant." The name's earliest recorded use dates back to around the 5th century BCE, during the height of the Vedic period in ancient India.
In Hindu mythology, Sharena was the name of a celestial nymph or apsara, known for her enchanting beauty and grace. She is mentioned in various ancient Hindu texts, such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas, where she is often depicted as a celestial dancer who entertained the gods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sharena is found in the Brihat Samhita, an ancient Sanskrit text on astrology and architecture written by the renowned scholar Varahamihira in the 6th century CE. In this text, Sharena is listed as a suitable name for a girl born under certain astrological circumstances.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sharena. One of the most famous was Sharena Samkara (1010 CE - 1089 CE), a renowned Indian philosopher and theologian who played a pivotal role in reviving and propagating the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.
Another notable figure was Sharena Devi (1425 CE - 1501 CE), a legendary warrior princess from the kingdom of Mewar in present-day Rajasthan, India. She was renowned for her bravery and martial skills, and her exploits have been celebrated in various folk tales and ballads.
In the realm of literature, Sharena Gupta (1865 CE - 1932 CE) was a celebrated Bengali author and social reformer who wrote extensively on women's rights and education. Her works played a significant role in shaping the Bengal Renaissance movement of the 19th century.
More recently, Sharena Dutt (1920 CE - 2003 CE) was an influential Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She was instrumental in reviving and promoting the Odissi dance form, one of the eight classical dance styles of India, and was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honor, in 1992.
Sharena Rani (1945 CE - 2022 CE) was a prominent Indian actress who appeared in numerous Bollywood films throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She was particularly known for her versatile acting skills and her ability to portray complex and nuanced characters on screen.
People
Sharena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharena 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
Sharena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 493 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharena 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 695,242 US residents.
Is Sharena a common name?
We classify Sharena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 523 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharena most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharena was 1985, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharena is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 466 people with the name Sharena, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,679 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 Sharena 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 Sharena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharena appears almost entirely female. Of the 467 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Sharena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharena is Black at 68.5%. The next largest groups are White (15.9%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Sharena most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sharena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.5% (319 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 Sharena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharena 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 Sharena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharena 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 Sharena 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 called Sharena?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.