Shayan
Masculine · “worthy”
Shayan is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,296 boys against 58 girls since 1880.
Shayan is worthy in Persian — one who deserves — and it is a modern Iranian name built from an ordinary adjective.
How old is the name Shayan?
Shayan first appears in US birth records in 1982 — 43 years ago. The typical Shayan alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 2,300 people named Shayan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shayan most popular?
Shayan peaked in 1999, reaching #1655 nationally. Today it ranks #2145, 490 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Where it comes from
From shayan to Shayan
The story of Shayan
Persian naming has drawn increasingly on ordinary vocabulary and on the Shahnameh since the twentieth century, and Shayan belongs to that wave — a plain adjective made a name. It is standard in Iran and Afghanistan and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
worthy, deserving, befitting
From the Persian shayan, 'worthy' or 'deserving', from shayestan, 'to be fitting'. It is ordinary Persian vocabulary. A separate Cheyenne-derived American use is possible for some bearers. The Persian is documented.
How the name formed
- shayan
- Shayan
Related forms: شایان · Shaan · Shayan
Pronouncing Shayan
shah-YAHN
Two syllables, stress on the second. Persian gives both vowels a full value.
Nicknames for Shayan
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
- 1982
- Most boys named
- 202494 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1655reached in 1999
- Change vs 2024
- −28.7%67 in 2025, from 94
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.
Shayan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- شایان in Persian — transliteration
- Shaan in English — related form
- Shayan in Urdu — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Shayans among us
people named Shayan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 25,494 born in 2025 was named Shayan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Shayan
- #2145
- Shayan on the 2025 chart
- #845
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Shayan went to 67 boys in 2025, but Shayaan is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 83, which makes it the 845th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,300 places above the chart.
- Shayan67
- Shayaan16
About 1 boy in 20,579 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 25,494 for Shayan 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
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Salim test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Shayan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Salim climbed just as high around 1980, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Salim's path sketches the road Shayan is walking now.
Shayan 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 Shayan is headed
Shayan should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Shayan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Shayan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The worthy meaning is transparent and unusually direct.
- Shay is available as a short form with a real record.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
- English speakers may hear Cheyenne, which is unrelated.
- It reads as specifically Persian.
- Several spellings are in circulation.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Shayan 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 Shayan? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Shayan
Masculine · #2145 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Shayans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,300 people named Shayan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Shayan?
- Shayan is the most-used spelling in US records — 67 of the 83 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Shayaan.
- How popular is the name Shayan in 2025?
- Shayan ranks #2145 among US boy names in 2025, with 67 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Shayan?
- About 1 in every 25,494 US boys born in 2025 was named Shayan — 67 in all.
- Will my child share the name Shayan with classmates?
- Shayan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Shayan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Musab#2145 · Adair#2145 · Hosea#2145 · Banner#2145 · Wendell#2145 · Alastair#2145 · Jahsir#2145 · Baylen#2145
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shayan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Shayan 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