How Many People Are Named Shai?
An estimated 3,983 people in the United States have the first name Shai. It is used for both genders, with 55.7% male. The average bearer is 16 years old, and Shai peaked in popularity in 2023 with 340 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Shai as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Shai paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Shai is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
- Shai is a modern name. With an average bearer age of just 16, it has gained most of its popularity in recent years.
Estimated Living Americans
3,983
About 1 in 86,054 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
55.7% confidence
Average Age
16
years old
Peak Year
2023
340 births
Total Registered
4,047
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Shai
Shai is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (55.7%) and females (44.3%). Out of 4,047 total births registered, 2,254 were male and 1,793 were female.
Shai as a male name
Ranked #1,086 in 2024
200 male births in 2024
Peak: 2023 (224 births)
Shai as a female name
Ranked #1,963 in 2024
101 female births in 2024
Peak: 2023 (116 births)
Shai: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Shai span from the 1960s to the 2020s, covering 7 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2020s, when 1,453 babies were registered. Shai remains highly popular today, with recent registration numbers near its historical peak.
Shai by Decade
How has Shai tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Shai by State
Birth registrations for Shai span all 22 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Florida. The lowest are in Nevada, Indiana, Tennessee. On average, about 75 Shais were registered per state.
Shai + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Shai as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Shai
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Shai: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shai?
We estimate approximately 3,983 people named Shai are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 86,054 Americans share this first name.
Is Shai a common name?
Shai is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 4,047 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Shai most popular?
Shai reached peak popularity in 2023, when 340 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Shai is approximately 16 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Shai a male name?
Shai is predominantly male. 55.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Shai Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Shai Smith, Shai Johnson, Shai Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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