Shigeru

Boys' name

Lush, luxuriant

Shigeru has been given to 591 babies in the U.S. since 1910. 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 1921, with 42 recorded.

Babies named Shigeru, 1938

1 in 443,000

Shigeru over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Shigeru: meaning, origin, and history

Lush, luxuriant

Japanese

What Shigeru means

Shigeru means “lush, luxuriant”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Shigeru is used in Japanese.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ɕi.ɡe̞.ɾɯᵝ/ for Shigeru.

Origin, language, and formation

Shigeru is used in English. Its origins include Japanese.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 591 boys were recorded with the name Shigeru between 1910 and 1938. Its highest annual count was 42 in 1921; its best national rank was #1,090 in 1918.

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 Shigeru?

Shigeru had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1938, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1938: 1 in 443,000; 5 of 2,212,569 births
Among boys only: 1 in 222,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1938: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 306,728 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Shigeru 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 1938 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 306,728 children born in 1938 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shigeru. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shigerus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shigeru was born before 1922 — so the typical Shigeru is around 103 today.

Median birth year: 1922; About 103 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 53.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 94.8%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 0; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 53.6% of all recorded uses (317).

Is Shigeru 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 1921 (42)
Years since peak: 104; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 21.8% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,090; 1918

Where Shigeru is used

Across 1910–2025, Shigeru was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 1,887 boys, against 1 in 43,370 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).

053 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Hawaii1 in 1,887
2California1 in 100,000
3Washington1 in —

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. Shigeru has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Shigeru by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,090; 1918
Peak year: 1921; 42 that year
First recorded: 1910
Last recorded: 1938
All-time count: 591
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Shigeru

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

Shivaay Shivaan Shiven Shimshon Shivansh Shiva Shivam Shivan Shivay Shivin Shine Shilo Shigeo Shivang Shiquan Shivank Shivaansh Shimon Shion Shirl Shields Shiheem Shishir Shiah

Sibling names for Shigeru

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

Elvera Rubie Tressie Lavinia Myrtis Margarette Adell Idella

For a brother

Hardy Antone Harmon Arlie Burl Dewitt Patsy Milford

Explore around Shigeru

Top names of 1921, Shigeru's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1918 Boys' names starting with S Japanese Names