Shalimar
Feminine · “The name of the Mughal gardens”
Shalimar is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 639 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Shalimar is the name of the Mughal emperors' pleasure gardens, and in 1925 it became one of the most famous perfumes in the world. Three syllables that carry water, terraces and scent.
How old is the name Shalimar?
Shalimar first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Shalimar alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 600 people named Shalimar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shalimar most popular?
Shalimar peaked in 1972, reaching #3276 nationally. See the whole 1972 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Shalimar
The emperor Jahangir laid out the Shalimar Bagh at Srinagar in Kashmir for his wife Nur Jahan, and in 1641 his son Shah Jahan began the Shalimar Gardens at Lahore, three terraces descending in steps, with more than four hundred fountains fed by a canal. In 1925 the French perfumer Jacques Guerlain, taken with the story of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal, called a new perfume Shalimar, and it became one of the best-known scents of the century. American families began to use the word as a girl's name in the years after that.
Meaningscholars disagree
The name of the Mughal gardens; its source is disputed
The garden name is often explained as 'abode of love' or traced to Sanskrit words for a house and a dwelling, but no derivation is settled.
Pronouncing Shalimar
SHAL-ih-mar
Three syllables with the stress on the first; some say shah-lee-MAR.
Nicknames for Shalimar
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
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 201229 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3276reached in 1972
- Change vs 2014
- 0.0%5 in 2015, from 5
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.
Shalimar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Shalimar in Urdu — transliteration
- Shalimar in Hindi — transliteration
Shalimars among us
people named Shalimar 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
Shalimar 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
- Recognized by many through the perfume and the gardens.
- Carries a real place with a long history.
- Very rare, so a Shalimar is unlikely to share her name.
- Many people will think of the perfume first.
- Three syllables and two pronunciations mean it will need teaching.
- The record also holds it for a handful of boys; for a boy it would be very unusual.
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What they receive
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Shalimar
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Shalimars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Shalimar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shalimar in 2025?
- Shalimar is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Shalimar with classmates?
- Shalimar 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 Shalimar? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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