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Sho

#9,578 in 2025Boys' name

Alternate transcription of Kanji

Sho has been given to 461 babies in the U.S. since 1923. In 2025 it ranked #9,578 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1990, with 20 recorded.

Babies named Sho, 2025

1 in 414,000

Sho over time, 1880–2025

Boys
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Sho: meaning, origin, and history

Alternate transcription of Kanji

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Sho means

Sho is a alternate transcription of Kanji.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Kanji.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 461 boys were recorded with the name Sho between 1923 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 20 in 1990; its best national rank was #3,144 in 1990.

Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,617 in 2015 to #9,578 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.

How common is Sho?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 213,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#9,578
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Sho 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 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 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sho. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shos were born

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

Median birth year
2002
About 23 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
28.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
55.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
453
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 28.0% of all recorded uses (129).

Is Sho 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
−704
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,961
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.62×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
40.0%
Peak was 1990 (20)
Years since peak
35
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
27.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,144
1990

Where Sho is used

Across 1910–2025, Sho was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 370,561 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2New York1 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. Sho has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Sho around the world

Where Sho 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
    2000–2014
    #4,632
    in 2014
  • Canada
    2013–2013
    #2,635
    in 2013
  • South Australia
    2001–2001
    #581
    in 2001

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.

Sho by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#9,578
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#3,144
1990
Peak year
1990
20 that year
First recorded
1923
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
461
Count in 2025
8

Names similar to Sho

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

ShotaShoaibShoneShouryaShonShonnSholomShomariShojiShoheiShogoShouaShownShooterShonteShontaShoichiShondellShomaShouSholemShozoShortyShontez

Sibling names for Sho

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 Sho

Top names of 1990, Sho's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1990Boys' names starting with S