Name Awesome

Shu

#13,602 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Good, pure, virtuous, charming

Shu has been given to 95 babies in the U.S. since 1992. In 2025 it ranked #13,602 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1992, with 8 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 81% boys, 19% girls all-time.

Babies named Shu, 2025

1 in 663,000

Shu over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
0246818801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Shu over time

In 2025, Shu went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19782025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Shu: meaning, origin, and history

Good, pure, virtuous, charming

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Shu means

Shu means “good, pure, virtuous, charming”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Shu is used in Chinese.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ʂu/ for Shu.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 77 boys were recorded with the name Shu between 1992 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1992; its best national rank was #6,598 in 1992.

In the United States, 18 girls were recorded with the name Shu between 1978 and 2007. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1978; its best national rank was #8,420 in 1978.

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 Shu?

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 boys only
1 in 342,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#13,602
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
459,581 kids
Even odds of a second one

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

When Shus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shu was born before 2008 — so the typical Shu is around 17 today.

Median birth year
2008
About 17 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
31.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
68.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
77
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 31.2% of all recorded uses (24).

Is Shu 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
+331
Places climbed
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
62.5%
Peak was 1992 (8)
Years since peak
33
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Very steady
0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#6,598
1992

Where Shu is used

Across 1910–2025, Shu was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 2,905,450 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 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. Shu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Shu around the world

Where Shu 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
    2019–2019
    #4,702
    in 2019
  • France
    1989–1989
    #2,715
    in 1989
  • South Australia
    2013–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Shu by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#13,602
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#6,598
1992
Peak year
1992
8 that year
First recorded
1992
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
77
Count in 2025
5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#8,420
1978
Peak year
1978
7 that year
First recorded
1978
Last recorded
2007
All-time count
18
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Shu

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

ShuaShuaybShubhShuanShuaibShuraimShueShuronJoshuShunnShukuruShubhamShunShuntaShuheiShubanShuoShufordShunsukeShukriShulemShujiShulimShuichi

Sibling names for Shu

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 Shu

Top names of 1992, Shu's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1992Boys' names starting with S