girls' name ★ peaked 2009

Shira

Meaning A female given name from Hebrew Gender Girl Rank 2025 #2,321 Trend ↑ Rising 13%

A female given name from Hebrew.

Rank 2025
#2,321
among girls · ↑21 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
79
named Shira
How common
1 in 20,345
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2009
159 babies
All-time total
5,815
#2,322 all-time among girls
First recorded
1941
in Social Security records

Shira popularity over time

5,815 babies have been named Shira since 1941, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.030.050.080.118801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1985Girls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – –
1890s – – – –
1900s – – – –
1910s – – – –
1920s – – – –
1930s – – – –
1940s 25 3 – #3,864
1950s 131 13 +424% #2,608
1960s 224 22 +71% #2,296
1970s 650 65 +190% #1,244
1980s 1,182 118 +82% #979
1990s 988 99 -16% #1,414
2000s 1,324 132 +34% #1,421
2010s 861 86 -35% #1,695
2020s (to 2025) 430 72 -17% #2,321

Where Shira is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 81 0.05 outside top 500
2027 82 0.05 outside top 500
2028 84 0.05 outside top 500
2029 85 0.05 outside top 500
2030 86 0.05 outside top 500

Where Shira is most popular

Girls named Shira per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.045 per 1,000. Strongest in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Shira born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
New York 95 0.240 +433%
New Jersey 34 0.188 +319%
Maryland 10 0.094 +110%
Florida 25 0.058 +30%
California 46 0.055 +22%
Massachusetts 5 0.041 -8%
Illinois 7 0.031 -32%
Texas 16 0.020 -56%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Arkansas – – –
Arizona – – –
Colorado – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Georgia – – –
Hawaii – – –
Iowa – – –
Idaho – – –
Indiana – – –
Kansas – – –
Kentucky – – –
Louisiana – – –
Maine – – –
Michigan – – –
Minnesota – – –
Missouri – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Carolina – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
Ohio – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Pennsylvania – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Carolina – – –
South Dakota – – –
Tennessee – – –
Utah – – –
Virginia – – –
Vermont – – –
Washington – – –
Wisconsin – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Shira

Shira is rare for girls in the United States, ranked #2,321 in 2025 with 79 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.

Since 1941, 5,815 American babies have been named Shira. Its peak came in 2009, when 159 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2000s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Shira stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Shira?

The median living Shira is about 28 years old; half are between 16 and 41. An estimated 5,700 people named Shira are alive in the United States today.

median 28 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Shira year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank
2025 79 #2,321
2024 79 #2,342
2023 62 #2,783
2022 70 #2,552
2021 75 #2,413
2020 65 #2,626
2019 70 #2,533
2018 67 #2,607
2017 70 #2,541
2016 90 #2,166
2015 76 #2,425
2014 97 #2,034
2013 96 #2,030
2012 78 #2,399
2011 92 #2,099
2010 125 #1,695
2009 159 #1,468
2008 151 #1,538
2007 121 #1,780
2006 139 #1,566
2005 139 #1,505
2004 137 #1,479
2003 111 #1,717
2002 119 #1,571
2001 134 #1,421
2000 114 #1,570
1995 95 #1,592
1990 109 #1,443
1985 157 #979
1980 110 #1,203
1975 70 #1,475
1970 42 #2,008
1965 20 #2,816
1960 25 #2,425
1955 9 #4,337
1950 11 #3,393
1945 – –
1940 – –
1935 – –
1930 – –
1925 – –
1920 – –
1915 – –
1910 – –
1905 – –
1900 – –
1895 – –
1890 – –
1885 – –
1880 – –

Famous people named Shira

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Shira Haas Shira Haas Israeli actress (born 1995) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Shira, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Shira?

The median living Shira is about 28 years old. Half of all living Shiras are between 16 and 41 years old.

How many people named Shira are alive today?

An estimated 5,700 people named Shira are alive in the United States, based on 5,815 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Shira mean?

A female given name from Hebrew.

How popular is the name Shira in 2025?

Shira ranked #2,321 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 79 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Shira?

5,815 babies have been named Shira in the United States since 1941, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Shira most popular?

Shira peaked in 2009, when 159 newborns received the name.

Is Shira a boy or girl name?

Shira is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Shira rising or falling?

Shira has been roughly stable over the past decade.

Will Shira become more popular?

Shira is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 86 girls named Shira in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Shira?

Well-known people named Shira include Shira Haas (actor).

Names like Shira

Names that sound and feel close to Shira: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Shira with similar names → More names starting with S →