Shirin
Feminine · “Persian "sweet”
Shirin is Persian for sweet, and it is also the name of one of the most famous women in Persian literature. Nezami's twelfth-century romance Khosrow and Shirin made her a permanent figure, and the historical Shirin behind the poem — a Christian queen of the Sasanian empire — is attested in Byzantine and Syriac sources as well.
How old is the name Shirin?
Shirin first appears in US birth records in 1938 — 87 years ago. The typical Shirin alive today was born around 1993, making them about 32 years old. About 800 people named Shirin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shirin most popular?
Shirin peaked in 1985, reaching #3246 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 3,887 places below that high. See the whole 1985 chart.
Where it comes from
From šīrīn to Shirin
The story of Shirin
The historical Shirin was the wife of Khosrow II, the last great Sasanian king, and she appears in seventh-century sources as a Christian who kept her faith at a Zoroastrian court. Persian poetry then rebuilt her: Ferdowsi mentions her, and Nezami's Khosrow and Shirin, written around 1180, turned the story into one of the two canonical Persian romances alongside Layla and Majnun. Her name stayed in continuous use across the Persian-speaking world, into Turkish and Kurdish, and traveled to the United States with Iranian migration after 1979 — which is what the 1985 American peak records.
Meaning
Persian "sweet, pleasant, charming"
Shīrīn is the ordinary Persian adjective for sweet, still in everyday use — shirini is the word for pastry and confectionery. The name is that adjective, unmediated. The etymology is not disputed. A folk connection to shir, "milk" or "lion", is a coincidence of spelling in the Persian script rather than a derivation.
How the name formed
- šīrīn
- Shirin
Related forms: شیرین · Şirin · Şîrîn · شیریں
Pronouncing Shirin
shee-REEN
Two syllables with the stress on the second and both vowels long — shee-REEN. English speakers often say SHEER-in with the stress at the front, which flattens the second vowel and changes the shape of the word.
Nicknames for Shirin
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
- 1938
- Most girls named
- 198527 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3246reached in 1985
- Change vs 2024
- +25.0%15 in 2025, from 12
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.
Shirin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- شیرین in Persian — same name
- Şirin in Turkish — same name
- Şîrîn in Kurdish — same name
- شیریں in Urdu — same name
Shirins among us
people named Shirin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Shirin
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 Emanuela test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Shirin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Emanuela climbed just as high around 1918, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Emanuela's path sketches the road Shirin is walking now.
Shirin 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
Shirin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Shirin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, everyday and warm — an adjective still in daily use.
- It carries a major literary and historical figure without being obscure.
- It is used across Persian, Turkish, Kurdish and Urdu naming.
- English speakers move the stress to the front, which alters the word.
- It will be confused with the Hebrew Shiri and the English Sharon.
- The literary association is strong and specific.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Shirin 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 Shirin? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Shirin
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Shirins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Shirin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shirin in 2025?
- Shirin ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Shirin?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Shirin — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Shirin with classmates?
- Shirin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Shirin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shirin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Shirin 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