Shad
Masculine · “Babylonian Shadrach”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not their names. The book of Daniel gives the Hebrew names in the same verse that gives the Babylonian ones: Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, renamed by the chief of the eunuchs after their deportation. The text records the act of renaming and preserves both sets, so the erasure is visible in the document that performs it.
How old is the name Shad?
Shad first appears in US birth records in 1940 — 85 years ago. The typical Shad alive today was born around 1975, making them about 50 years old. About 4,500 people named Shad are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shad most popular?
Shad peaked in 1972, reaching #402 nationally. Today it ranks #8243, 7,841 places below that high. See the whole 1972 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Shadrach to Shad
The story of Shad
Renaming a captive is an act of possession, and Daniel 1 describes it plainly: four young men of the Judean nobility are taken to Babylon, trained in the language and literature of the Chaldeans, and given new names. Each Hebrew name contains a form of the God of Israel, Yah or El: Hananiah, Yah is gracious; Mishael, who is what God is; Azariah, Yah has helped; Daniel, God is my judge. Each Babylonian name replaces that element with a Babylonian deity or removes it. The narrative that follows is about the three refusing to bow to a statue, so the book is at once recording the loss of their names and telling a story about what they would not give up. That the Hebrew names appear at all is the point. The American given name Shad peaks in 1972.
Meaningscholars disagree
Babylonian Shadrach, meaning unresolved
Shad is usually a short form of Shadrach, the Babylonian name given to Hananiah in Daniel 1. The meaning of Shadrach is not established; suggestions include a connection to the god Aku or to Marduk, but none is secure, and the name may be deliberately altered in the Hebrew text. Shad is also an English word for a river fish of the herring family, and a modern surname, and either could be the source in a given family.
How the name formed
- Shadrach
- Shad
Related forms: Shadrach · Shadd
Pronouncing Shad
shad
One syllable, short a, exactly as the fish. Shadrach is SHAD-rak, two syllables with the stress at the front, and the ch is said as k.
Nicknames for Shad
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1940
- Most boys named
- 1971406 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #402reached in 1972
- Change vs 2023
- −40.0%9 in 2025, from 15
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Shad in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Shadrach in English — related form
- Shadd in English — spelling variant
Shads among us
people named Shad are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 189,786 born in 2025 was named Shad
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jerold test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Shad's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jerold climbed just as high around 1942, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jerold's path sketches the road Shad is walking now.
Shad sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Shad beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Shad in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, unmistakable and easy to say.
- Shadrach is available as a full formal version.
- The biblical story attached to it is a well known one.
- It is also the name of a fish.
- The meaning of the underlying Babylonian name is not established.
- Chad is a near-homophone and much more common.
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What they receive
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Shad
Masculine · #8243 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Shads are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,500 people named Shad are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shad in 2025?
- Shad ranks #8243 among US boy names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Shad?
- About 1 in every 189,786 US boys born in 2025 was named Shad — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Shad with classmates?
- Shad will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Shad
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Danial#8243 · Ogden#8243 · Aaren#8243 · Trinity#8243 · Kourtney#8243 · Maury#8243 · Lindon#8243 · Elbert#8243
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shad? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Shad and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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