Shemaiah

#16,905 in 2025Girls' name

Heard by Yahweh

Shemaiah has been given to 281 babies in the U.S. since 1979. In 2025 it ranked #16,905 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2004, with 16 recorded.

Babies named Shemaiah, 2025

1 in 663,000

Shemaiah over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Shemaiah: meaning, origin, and history

Heard by Yahweh

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Shemaiah means

Shemaiah means “heard by Yahweh”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Shemaiah is used in Biblical.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ʃɪ.ˈmaɪ̯.ə/ for Shemaiah.

Origin, language, and formation

Shemaiah is used in Cebuano.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 269 girls were recorded with the name Shemaiah between 1979 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 16 in 2004; its best national rank was #6,789 in 1999.

Over 10 years its rank fell, from #14,287 in 2015 to #16,905 in 2025.

In the United States, 12 boys were recorded with the name Shemaiah between 1986 and 2002. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1986; its best national rank was #6,597 in 1986.

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 Shemaiah?

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

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 663,000; 5 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 321,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #16,905; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 459,581 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Shemaiah 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 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 459,581 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shemaiah. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shemaiahs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shemaiah was born before 2002 — so the typical Shemaiah is around 23 today.

Median birth year: 2002; About 23 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 43.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 58.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 269; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 43.9% of all recorded uses (118).

Is Shemaiah 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: −2,618; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.71×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 31.3%; Peak was 2004 (16)
Years since peak: 21; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 35.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #6,789; 1999

Spellings of Shemaiah

Shemaiah is not the most common spelling — Shamiah is, with 68.7% against Shemaiah's 31.3%.

Shamiah68.7%590
Shemaiah31.3%269

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.

Shemaiah around the world

Where Shemaiah 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
2000–2019
#5,591
in 2019
South Australia
2004–2004
#700
in 2004

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

Shemaiah by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #16,905
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: New entry
Best rank ever: #6,789; 1999
Peak year: 2004; 16 that year
First recorded: 1979
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 269
Count in 2025: 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #6,597; 1986
Peak year: 1986; 6 that year
First recorded: 1986
Last recorded: 2002
All-time count: 12
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Shemaiah

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

Sheliah Shemiah Sheniah Sheriah Shemariah Shealynn Sheylin Shenique Sherlynn Shelonda Sherrian Shellene Kamariah Nazariah Deliliah Shereese Shevonne Zamariah Shenetta Shericka Sheilyn Shemekia Samariah Sheritta

Sibling names for Shemaiah

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

For a sister

Halie Allyssa Alysa Jacquelin Gabriel Cydney Maranda Madisen

For a brother

Aaden Kale Jarod Keven Zakary Elizabeth Garret Donavon

Explore around Shemaiah

Top names of 2004, Shemaiah's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 1999 Girls' names starting with S