Sharika
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "partner" or "companion".
Name Census estimates that about 1,231 living Americans carry the first name Sharika. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharika today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharika births was 1987 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharika. 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 Sharika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 278,436 Americans
Peak year
1987
84 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2019 SSA rank
#17,611
Tracked since 1973
Census
Sharika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,141 people with the first name Sharika, which placed it at #11,321 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
#11,321
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,141 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharika is Black at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.0%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Sharika 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 Sharika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.9% · 900
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.0% · 160
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 31
- Two or more races2.5% · 29
- White1.5% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Popularity
Sharika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharika from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 652 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
Sharika 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 Sharika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharikas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Florida, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Sharika, while Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharika
Sharika is a given name with origins traced back to the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "shri," which means prosperity, wealth, and auspiciousness. The name has been in use for centuries in various regions of South Asia, particularly in India and Pakistan.
One of the earliest known references to the name Sharika can be found in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was often associated with goddesses and deities symbolizing wealth, fortune, and beauty. The name gained popularity during the medieval period, particularly among the ruling classes and aristocracy.
In the 7th century CE, Sharika Devi was a prominent figure in the court of the Chalukya dynasty in southern India. She was known for her patronage of the arts and literature, contributing to the cultural renaissance of that era. Another notable historical figure was Sharika Begum, a 16th-century Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Akbar. She was renowned for her intelligence and played a significant role in the Mughal court's administrative affairs.
During the 19th century, Sharika Vijayaraghavacharya (1860-1925) was a renowned scholar and spiritual leader from Tamil Nadu, India. He made significant contributions to the revival and propagation of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy. In the 20th century, Sharika Mukherjee (1904-1983) was an Indian actress and dancer who gained fame for her performances in Bengali theatre and films.
More recently, Sharika Soaniu (born 1982) is a Fijian sprinter and hurdler who has represented her country in numerous international competitions, including the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. She holds several national records in various track and field events.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Sharika. The name has maintained its significance and popularity across various cultures and regions, particularly in South Asia, where it continues to be a popular choice for newborns.
People
Sharika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharika 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
Sharika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,231 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharika 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 278,436 US residents.
Is Sharika a common name?
We classify Sharika as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,300 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharika most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharika was 1987, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharika is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,141 people with the name Sharika, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,321 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 Sharika 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 Sharika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharika appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,139 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Sharika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharika is Black at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.0%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Sharika most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sharika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (900 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 Sharika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharika a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharika 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 Sharika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharika 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 Sharika 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 have Sharika as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Sharika, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.