Shayla
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "small and delicate".
Name Census estimates that about 29,851 living Americans carry the first name Shayla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shayla today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shayla births was 1999 (1,187 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shayla. 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 Shayla with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
30K
~ 1 in 11,482 Americans
Peak year
1999
1,187 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2004 SSA rank
#1,815
Tracked since 1950
Census
Shayla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 26,266 people with the first name Shayla, which placed it at #1,354 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
#1,354
National first-name rank
People counted
26K
26,266 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shayla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shayla is White at 44.3%. The next largest groups are Black (30.2%) and Hispanic (13.1%). 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 Shayla 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 Shayla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.3% · 11,623
- Black or African American30.2% · 7,922
- Hispanic or Latino13.1% · 3,443
- Two or more races7.7% · 2,032
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 869
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 377
Gender
Gender distribution for Shayla
Out of the 30,834 babies given the name Shayla since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Shayla as a male name
- Ranked #9,780 in 2004
- 7 male births in 2004
- Peak: 2004 (7 births)
Shayla as a female name
- Ranked #1,815 in 2024
- 111 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (1,187 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shayla appears almost entirely female. Of the 26,260 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Shayla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shayla from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 9,574 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shayla 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 Shayla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaylas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Shayla, while Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 571 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shayla
The name Shayla is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with its roots traced back to the Middle Eastern region. The earliest known spelling of the name was "Shayala," which translates to "beautiful" or "lovely" in Arabic.
In the ancient Arabic tradition, names were often chosen for their symbolic meaning and significance. The name Shayla was likely bestowed upon newborn girls as a wish for them to grow up to embody beauty, grace, and charm.
While the name's origins can be traced back to the Arab world, it has gained popularity in various cultures and regions over time. One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Shayla can be found in the Persian poetry of the 12th century, where it was used as a metaphor for feminine beauty and elegance.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Shayla. One of the earliest was Shayla al-Qurashiyya, a renowned Arabian poet who lived in the 7th century. Her poetic works celebrated the beauty of nature and the human spirit, reflecting the essence of her name.
In the 13th century, Shayla bint al-Husayn was a prominent Islamic scholar and theologian known for her contributions to the study of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). Her legacy as a learned woman in a male-dominated field was a testament to her name's embodiment of strength and intellect.
Moving forward in time, Shayla Worra (1885-1962) was a pioneering Australian artist whose vibrant paintings captured the essence of the Australian landscape. Her name, though of Arabic origin, found its way into the cultural fabric of a distant land, reflecting the name's global appeal.
In the realm of literature, Shayla Black (born 1971) is a contemporary American author renowned for her best-selling erotic romance novels. Her name has become synonymous with the exploration of love, passion, and desire, adding a modern twist to the name's traditional connotations of beauty.
Lastly, Shayla Beesley (born 1997) is a rising star in the world of music, a British singer-songwriter whose soulful vocals and poetic lyrics have garnered critical acclaim. Her name serves as a testament to the enduring appeal and versatility of the name Shayla across generations and artistic disciplines.
People
Shayla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shayla 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
Shayla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shayla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29,851 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shayla 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 11,482 US residents.
Is Shayla a common name?
We classify Shayla as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30,834 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shayla most popular?
The single biggest year for Shayla was 1999, when 1,187 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shayla is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shayla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 26,266 people with the name Shayla, or 8.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,354 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 Shayla 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 Shayla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shayla appears almost entirely female. Of the 26,260 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 Shayla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shayla is White at 44.3%. The next largest groups are Black (30.2%) and Hispanic (13.1%). 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 Shayla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shayla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.3% (11,623 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 Shayla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shayla a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Shayla 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 Shayla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shayla 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 Shayla 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 Shayla?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.