Shaquille
Masculine · “handsome”
Shaquille is given to both — 5,769 boys and 387 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Shaquille is Arabic, and the name means handsome or well-formed. It reached the American charts through one basketball player, and the registers respond to his career almost year by year.
How old is the name Shaquille?
Shaquille first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Shaquille alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 5,600 people named Shaquille are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shaquille most popular?
Shaquille peaked in 1993, reaching #181 nationally. Today it ranks #2884, 2,703 places below that high. See the whole 1993 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From shakil to Shaquille
The story of Shaquille
Arabic names entered African American use in large numbers from the 1960s onward, part of a deliberate turn away from European naming that followed the growth of Islam in Black American communities. Shaquille was among them. The name rose very sharply in 1992 and 1993, when a player of that name entered the professional game to enormous publicity, and peaked in 1993.
Meaning
handsome, well-formed
From the Arabic shakil or shaqil, 'handsome', 'shapely' or 'well-formed', from a root about form and likeness. The name and its spellings are established across the Arab world, and the meaning is transparent to Arabic speakers.
How the name formed
- shakil
- Shaquille
Related forms: شكيل · Shakil · Shaquile
Pronouncing Shaquille
shuh-KEEL
Two syllables, stress on the second. Arabic gives the first vowel a fuller quality.
Nicknames for Shaquille
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
- 1989
- Most boys named
- 19931,785 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #181reached in 1993
- Change vs 2024
- +53.6%43 in 2025, from 28
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.
Shaquille in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- شكيل in Arabic — transliteration
- Shakil in English — spelling variant
- Shaquile in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Illinois, New York.
Shaquilles among us
people named Shaquille are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 39,723 born in 2025 was named Shaquille
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 Ramon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Shaquille's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ramon climbed just as high around 1930, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ramon's path sketches the road Shaquille is walking now.
Shaquille 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 Shaquille is headed
Shaquille is easing off slowly — about 23% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Shaquille beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Shaquille in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is transparent and unambiguously positive in a language spoken by hundreds of millions.
- Shaq is an unusually distinctive short form.
- The end stress gives it a strong rhythm against a front-stressed surname.
- One bearer dominates the name completely in American ears.
- Several transliterations are in use.
- It is very tightly dated to the early 1990s.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Shaquille 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.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Shaquille? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Shaquille
Masculine · #2884 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Shaquilles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,600 people named Shaquille are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shaquille in 2025?
- Shaquille ranks #2884 among US boy names in 2025, with 43 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Shaquille?
- About 1 in every 39,723 US boys born in 2025 was named Shaquille — 43 in all.
- Will my child share the name Shaquille with classmates?
- Shaquille will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Shaquille
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kamal#2884 · Blu#2884 · Rafi#2884 · Minh#2884 · Arnav#2884 · Jayven#2884 · Tytus#2884 · Hiro#2884
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shaquille? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Shaquille and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn 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