Shala
Feminine
Shala is the shortest thing the Sha- prefix ever produced. Most names built with it carry a stem of two syllables or more; this one has a prefix and a single open syllable behind it, which makes it about as minimal as a constructed name can get before it stops being a word.
How old is the name Shala?
Shala first appears in US birth records in 1947 — 78 years ago. The typical Shala alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 2,000 people named Shala are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shala most popular?
Shala peaked in 1985, reaching #1523 nationally. See the whole 1985 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Shala
The same syllable is a substantial word in Sanskrit, where shala means a hall, a house or a shed, and it closes a great many words still in daily use across India. A dharamshala is a rest house for pilgrims; a pathshala is a school; a gaushala is a place where cattle are kept. The word does not stand alone as a name in that tradition — it is the second half of compounds, the way -house or -hall works in English place names. So a short American coinage lands, without meaning to, on a piece of vocabulary that has been building words for several thousand years.
Meaningnot established
Not established
As an American build it has no meaning: a prefix with no sense followed by a syllable with no sense. There is an unrelated word discussed below that the letters land on, and the two have nothing to do with each other.
Pronouncing Shala
SHAH-luh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Some families put it on the second instead, saying shuh-LAH, and the spelling settles nothing.
Nicknames for Shala
Moderate
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
- 1947
- Most girls named
- 199189 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1523reached in 1985
- Change vs 2011
- −40.0%6 in 2012, from 10
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.
Shalas among us
people named Shala are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Shala sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, soft and completely easy to say on first hearing.
- The spelling contains nothing that needs explaining twice.
- It is genuinely uncommon while sounding entirely familiar.
- The stress placement is unsettled and strangers will guess.
- There is no meaning to pass on, whatever other pages claim.
- It is closely tied to the decades of its American use.
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Shala
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Shalas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Shala are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shala in 2025?
- Shala is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Shala with classmates?
- Shala will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shala? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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