Skip to content
NameBattle
My names

Shai

Feminine · “gift”

Shai is given to both — 1,871 girls and 2,469 boys since 1880. See Shai as a boy nameSee other names given to both

1968high 2023
#2326 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare78 girls in 2025

Shai is a gift in Hebrew — and it is also the Egyptian god of fate, an entirely separate word.

How old is the name Shai?

Shai first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Shai alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 1,900 people named Shai are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Shai most popular?

Shai peaked in 1993, reaching #1664 nationally. Today it ranks #2326, 662 places below that high. See the whole 1993 chart.

Compare this nameMore “S” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Shai

Shai is the everyday Hebrew word for a gift and became a common Israeli given name for both sexes in the twentieth century. Egyptian religion had a god Shai who personified the fate allotted to a person at birth, which is a coincidence of transliteration rather than a connection. Shai appears in American records in current use.

Meaning

gift

From the Hebrew shai, 'gift' or 'present', an ordinary modern Hebrew noun. A separate Egyptian Shai personified fate or destiny. The Hebrew is documented and the two are unrelated. It is used for both sexes in Israel.

How the name formed

  1. shai
  2. Shai

Related forms: שי · Shay

Pronouncing Shai

SHY

One syllable. Shai and the Irish Shay are homophones and unrelated.

Nicknames for Shai

Moderate

ShayaA stretched form, and a name in its own right in Hebrew
ShThe initial sound alone, used inside families rather than generally
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1968–20251165801167819682025

US babies named Shai per year from 1968 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#16641960s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1968
Most girls named
2023116 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1664reached in 1993
Change vs 2024
−22.8%78 in 2025, from 101
Shai sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 2023, with 116 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Shai in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • שי in Hebrew — transliteration
  • Shay in English — spelling variant

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, New York.

Shais among us

1,900

people named Shai are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 20,606 born in 2025 was named Shai

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Shai

#2326
Shai on the 2025 chart
#703
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Shai went to 78 girls in 2025, but Shay is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 262, which makes it the 703rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,623 places above the chart.

About 1 girl in 6,135 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 20,606 for Shai itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Tandra test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Shai's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tandra climbed just as high around 1971, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tandra's path sketches the road Shai is walking now.

40%chance Shai will feel “very 2020s” by 2040
Shai, aligned on its peakTandra· peak 1971not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-30 yrs+30 yrsTandra · #13480Shai today
Shai today is about where Tandra stood in 2003 — 32 years past a #1665-sized peak. Within 15 years, Tandra had drifted out of the mainstream charts.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Shai 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

Where Shai is headed

19682030

US babies named Shai per year, 1968 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Shai looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 23% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.

Rising+23% by 2030projected around #2,096 in 2030

Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.

A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.

Shai beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Shai in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Shaithis name78#2326Ria78#2326Malaika78#2326Delta78#2326Caitlin78#2326

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • The gift meaning is transparent and warm.
  • One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
  • It works for both sexes without strain.
What to consider
  • It is a homophone of the English 'shy'.
  • The Irish Shay is unrelated and identical in sound.
  • It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.

Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Shai to the vote.

Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.

Start a family voteSwipe together

Only the people you invite can see your list.

Already decided on Shai? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.

Or just send this page to someone:

WhatsAppPinterestFacebook

What they receive

Someone added a name to your list

Shai

Feminine · #2326 in the U.S.

♥ Love itNot for meLet’s talk about it
Add a note — what do you like about it?
Your shared list is empty. Shai would be the first name on it.

Frequently asked

How many Shais are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Shai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Shai?
Shai is one of 2 recorded spellings. Shay is the more common one — 184 births in 2025 against 78 for Shai.
How popular is the name Shai in 2025?
Shai ranks #2326 among US girl names in 2025, with 78 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Shai?
About 1 in every 20,606 US girls born in 2025 was named Shai — 78 in all.
Will my child share the name Shai with classmates?
Shai will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Shai

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Ria#2326 · Malaika#2326 · Delta#2326 · Caitlin#2326 · Tommie#2326 · Azalia#2326 · Audrina#2326 · Sitara#2326

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shai? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Shai and another name?

See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.

Compare side by side

In a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.

Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.

Cast your vote

Which one would you pick?

Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.

US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle