Shulem
A Yiddish name meaning "peace, perfection".
Name Census estimates that about 1,482 living Americans carry the first name Shulem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shulem today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shulem births was 2023 (92 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shulem. 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 Shulem with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Shulem is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 231,278 Americans
Peak year
2023
92 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,022
Tracked since 1959
Census
Shulem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 975 people with the first name Shulem, which placed it at #12,678 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
#12,678
National first-name rank
People counted
975
975 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
99.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shulem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shulem is White at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%). 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 Shulem 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 Shulem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White99.0% · 965
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 4
Popularity
Shulem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shulem from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 534 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Shulem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shulem 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 Shulem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shulems live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shulem
The name Shulem originates from the Hebrew language and Jewish culture. It is a variation of the Hebrew name Shlomo, which is derived from the Hebrew word "shalom," meaning peace. The name Shulem is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages in Jewish communities across Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shulem can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism, which mentions a sage named Shulem. This suggests that the name was in use among Jewish communities as early as the 3rd to 6th centuries CE.
In the 11th century, a renowned Jewish philosopher and scholar, Shlomo Ibn Gabirol, was known by the name Shulem. Born in Malaga, Spain, in 1021, he made significant contributions to Jewish philosophy and poetry. His works, such as "Keter Malkhut" (The Kingly Crown), had a lasting impact on Jewish thought.
Another notable figure with the name Shulem was Shulem Shvadron, an Israeli writer and poet born in 1905 in Ukraine. His works, which often explored themes of Jewish identity and the Israeli experience, earned him recognition as one of the leading voices in modern Hebrew literature.
In the 18th century, Shulem Zalman, a prominent Hasidic rabbi and leader, lived in Ukraine. He was known for his teachings and writings, which influenced the development of the Hasidic movement within Judaism.
The name Shulem also appeared in the 19th century, with Shulem Aleichem being one of the most famous bearers. Born in 1859 in Ukraine, he was a renowned Yiddish author and playwright, known for his humorous and insightful depictions of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. His works, such as "Tevye the Dairyman," have become classics of Yiddish literature.
Throughout history, the name Shulem has been closely associated with the Jewish tradition and has been carried by scholars, writers, and religious leaders who have made significant contributions to Jewish culture and thought.
People
Shulem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shulem 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
Shulem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shulem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,482 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shulem 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 231,278 US residents.
Is Shulem a common name?
We classify Shulem as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,503 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shulem most popular?
The single biggest year for Shulem was 2023, when 92 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shulem is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shulem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 975 people with the name Shulem, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,678 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 Shulem 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 Shulem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shulem appears almost entirely male. Of the 976 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Shulem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shulem is White at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%). 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 Shulem most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shulem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.0% (965 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 Shulem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shulem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shulem 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 Shulem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shulem 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 Shulem 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 share the name Shulem?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.