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Shanika

Girls' name

From Sinhalese ශානිකා; literal meaning unconfirmed

Shanika has been given to 5,610 babies in the U.S. since 1970. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1979, with 410 recorded.

Babies named Shanika, 2024

1 in 371,000

Shanika over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Shanika: meaning, origin, and history

From Sinhalese ශානිකා; literal meaning unconfirmed

coinages

What Shanika means

Shanika is a modern given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Shanika is used in English. Its origins include coinages.

Shanika comes through Sinhalese ශානිකා.

Shanika is a modern formation.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Shanika is pronounced /ʃəˈniːkə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,599 girls were recorded with the name Shanika between 1970 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 410 in 1979; its best national rank was #495 in 1979.

In the United States, 11 boys were recorded with the name Shanika between 1982 and 1989. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1989; its best national rank was #7,200 in 1982.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Shanika?

Shanika had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024
1 in 371,000
9 of 3,342,801 births
Among girls only
1 in 180,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2024
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
257,451 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Shanika sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2024 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 257,451 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shanika. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shanikas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shanika was born before 1985 — so the typical Shanika is around 40 today.

Median birth year
1985
About 40 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
48.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
3.3%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
5,599
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 48.4% of all recorded uses (2,712).

Is Shanika 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1979 (410)
Years since peak
46
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
32.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#495
1979

Spellings of Shanika

Shanika is not the most common spelling — Shana is, with 11.6% against Shanika's 2.2%.

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 Shanika is used

Across 1910–2025, Shanika was most concentrated in Maryland — about 1 in 9,091 girls, against 1 in 29,015 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

011 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Maryland1 in 9,091
  2. 2District of Columbia1 in 11,111
  3. 3Florida1 in 11,111
  4. 4South Carolina1 in 11,111
  5. 5Georgia1 in 12,500
  6. 6Mississippi1 in 14,286
  7. 7North Carolina1 in 16,667
  8. 8Virginia1 in 16,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Shanika has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Shanika around the world

Where Shanika 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
    1996–2016
    #4,763
    in 2016
  • Canada
    1991–2010
    #2,833
    in 2010
  • South Australia
    1977–2012
    #871
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Shanika by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#495
1979
Peak year
1979
410 that year
First recorded
1970
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
5,599
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#7,200
1982
Peak year
1989
6 that year
First recorded
1982
Last recorded
1989
All-time count
11
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Shanika

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

ShamikaSharikaShameikaShaniyaShanellShayleeShakiraShaelynShatikaShaniceShaneikaShanayaShantelShaindySharlaShanelleShaylynShanvikaShastaShaniahShaylinShantalShanaeShamira

Names with a curve like Shanika

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Shanika, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

ShanteKeshiaTaneshaCasieTenishaShavonTarahJoshuaCodyMeghannKatiMatthew

Sibling names for Shanika

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 Shanika

Top names of 1979, Shanika's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1979Girls' names starting with S