Shira

#2,321 in 2025Girls' name

Singing

Shira has been given to 5,815 babies in the U.S. since 1941. In 2025 it ranked #2,321 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2009, with 159 recorded.

Babies named Shira, 2025

1 in 42,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Shira: meaning, origin, and history

Singing

Hebrew

What Shira means

Shira means “singing”.

Origin, language, and formation

Shira is used in English. Its origins include Hebrew.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,815 girls were recorded with the name Shira between 1941 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 159 in 2009; its best national rank was #979 in 1985.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,626 in 2020 to #2,321 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,425 in 2015 to #2,321 in 2025.

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 Shira?

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

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 42,000; 79 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 20,300; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #2,321; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 29,088 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Shira 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 5001%

Put another way: gather 29,088 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shira. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shiras were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shira was born before 1996 — so the typical Shira is around 29 today.

Median birth year: 1996; About 29 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 22.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 43.0%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 5,790; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 22.8% of all recorded uses (1,324).

Is Shira 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: +21; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +305; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +104; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.04×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 49.7%; Peak was 2009 (159)
Years since peak: 16; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 13.5% average annual change
Best rank ever: #979; 1985

Spellings of Shira

Shira is not the most common spelling — Sara is, with 37.4% against Shira's 0.50%.

Sara37.4%436,193
Sheila20.5%238,774
Sheri5.2%60,464
Shari3.5%40,927
Kira3.5%40,829
Keira2.9%33,836
Shana2.5%29,635
Amira2.2%25,609

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 Shira is used

Across 2016–2025, Shira was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 4,000 girls, against 1 in 13,945 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

125 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1New York1 in 4,000
2New Jersey1 in 5,000
3Maryland1 in 11,111
4California1 in 20,000
5Florida1 in 25,000
6Massachusetts1 in 25,000
7Illinois1 in 100,000
8Texas1 in 100,000

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.

Shira around the world

Where Shira 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
1996–2025
#3,705
in 2025
France
1978–2025
#1,717
in 2025
Canada
1991–2024
#2,463
in 2024
South Australia
1972–1972
#722
in 1972

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.

Shira by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #2,321
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 305
Best rank ever: #979; 1985
Peak year: 2009; 159 that year
First recorded: 1941
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 5,815
Count in 2025: 79

Names similar to Shira

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

Shilo Maira Zaira Akira Moira Shiloh Saira Kaira Shianne Shifra Shivani Shiela Elmira Adira Shia Samira Meira Yanira Shilah Shikira Daira Shirl Shirin Amira

Names with a curve like Shira

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

Ilana Annalisa Amberly Danae Jordana Arianne Marcela Leeanna Keturah Shoshana Anamaria Charis

Sibling names for Shira

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

Mariyah Ireland Briley Natalya Unique Desire Yamilet Jocelynn

For a brother

Jordyn Amare Chace Broderick Konner Kaeden Angus Braiden

Explore around Shira

Top names of 2009, Shira's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 1985 Girls' names starting with S Hebrew Girl Names