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Shakur

#3,831 in 2025Boys' name

Thankful, grateful

Shakur has been given to 1,622 babies in the U.S. since 1987. In 2025 it ranked #3,831 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1997, with 119 recorded.

Babies named Shakur, 2025

1 in 114,000

Shakur over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Shakur: meaning, origin, and history

Thankful, grateful

Arabic

What Shakur means

Shakur means “thankful, grateful”, associated with šakūr.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Arabic شَكُور (šakūr, “thankful, grateful”). This surname is predominantly found in India.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Shakur (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Shakur is used in English. Its origins include Arabic.

Shakur comes through Arabic شَكُور.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,613 boys were recorded with the name Shakur between 1987 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 119 in 1997; its best national rank was #1,071 in 1997.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,411 in 2020 to #3,831 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,499 in 2015 to #3,831 in 2025.

In the United States, 9 girls were recorded with the name Shakur between 1997 and 1997. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1997; its best national rank was #9,659 in 1997.

How common is Shakur?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 114,000
29 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 58,900
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,831
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
79,239 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Shakur sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 79,239 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shakur. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shakurs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shakur was born before 2005 — so the typical Shakur is around 20 today.

Median birth year
2005
About 20 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
33.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
63.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,613
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 33.4% of all recorded uses (538).

Is Shakur rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−1,467
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,420
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−332
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.91×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
24.4%
Peak was 1997 (119)
Years since peak
28
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,071
1997

Spellings of Shakur

Shakur is not the most common spelling — Shaun is, with 83.1% against Shakur's 1.9%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Shakur is used

Across 2016–2025, Shakur was most concentrated in District of Columbia — about 1 in 7,143 boys, against 1 in 48,543 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

114 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1District of Columbia1 in 7,143
  2. 2Pennsylvania1 in 11,111
  3. 3Georgia1 in 25,000
  4. 4Maryland1 in 25,000
  5. 5Florida1 in 50,000
  6. 6North Carolina1 in 50,000
  7. 7New York1 in 50,000
  8. 8South Carolina1 in 50,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Shakur around the world

Where Shakur ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2025
    #5,137
    in 2025
  • France
    2002–2025
    #4,158
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1994–2019
    #2,943
    in 2019
  • South Australia
    1997–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Shakur by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,831
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,420
Best rank ever
#1,071
1997
Peak year
1997
119 that year
First recorded
1987
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,613
Count in 2025
29

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#9,659
1997
Peak year
1997
9 that year
First recorded
1997
Last recorded
1997
All-time count
9
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Shakur

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ShamirShamusSharodShakirShayanShalomSharifShauryaShahidShayaShadowShaquanShainShareefShadeShaheedShaanShaydenShanonShamarShakeemShantShayaanShaheem

Sibling names for Shakur

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Shakur

Top names of 1997, Shakur's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1997Boys' names starting with S