Shikha

Girls' name

Crest, plume

Shikha has been given to 278 babies in the U.S. since 1982. 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 1996, with 14 recorded.

Babies named Shikha, 2019

1 in 579,000

Shikha over time, 1880–2025

Girls

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Shikha: meaning, origin, and history

Crest, plume

Sanskrit

What Shikha means

Shikha means “crest, plume”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Shikha is used in Hindi.

Origin, language, and formation

Shikha is used in English. Its origins include Sanskrit.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 278 girls were recorded with the name Shikha between 1982 and 2019. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1996; its best national rank was #6,158 in 1983.

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 Shikha?

Shikha had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2019, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2019: 1 in 579,000; 6 of 3,472,229 births
Among girls only: 1 in 280,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2019: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 401,129 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Shikha 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 2019 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 401,129 children born in 2019 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shikha. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shikhas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shikha was born before 2000 — so the typical Shikha is around 25 today.

Median birth year: 2000; About 25 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 29.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 64.7%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 278; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 29.9% of all recorded uses (83).

Is Shikha 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 1996 (14)
Years since peak: 29; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 27.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #6,158; 1983

Spellings of Shikha

Shikha is not the most common spelling — Shira is, with 29.9% against Shikha's 1.4%.

Shira29.9%5,815
Shiela22.6%4,408
Shakia12.1%2,358
Shifra8.8%1,715
Shia5.6%1,093
Ishika5.6%1,092
Shila5.5%1,080
Saisha5.4%1,051

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.

Shikha around the world

Where Shikha 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
2010–2014
#5,691
in 2014
Canada
1994–1994
#2,260
in 1994
South Australia
1993–1993
#712
in 1993

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.

Shikha 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: #6,158; 1983
Peak year: 1996; 14 that year
First recorded: 1982
Last recorded: 2019
All-time count: 278
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Shikha

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

Shiori Shirel Shine Shifa Shiri Shiara Shirin Shivya Shiza Shilah Shirah Shiffy Shiah Shiana Shiane Shifra Shirla Shir Shianna Shivon Shital Shilpa Shiva Shizue

Sibling names for Shikha

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

Iman Breann Cinthia Katia Kaela Tristan Lexus Estefania

For a brother

Austyn Claudio Dontae Deion Hernan Dangelo Tristin Rashawn

Explore around Shikha

Top names of 1996, Shikha's peak year The 1990s in full Other names that peaked in 1983 Girls' names starting with S