Shiv
Masculine · “auspicious”
Shiv is Shiva shortened — the destroyer and transformer of the Hindu trinity, whose name means the auspicious one, which is a striking thing for a god of dissolution.
How old is the name Shiv?
Shiv first appears in US birth records in 1984 — 41 years ago. The typical Shiv alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 2,200 people named Shiv are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shiv most popular?
Shiv peaked in 2014, reaching #1730 nationally. Today it ranks #1753, 23 places below that high. See the whole 2014 chart.
Where it comes from
From shiva to Shiv
The story of Shiv
Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, the destroyer whose destruction makes renewal possible, and the lord of the dance. Shiv is the ordinary Hindi form and a common given name across northern India. Indian emigration brought it to America, where it appears in the registers and is in current use.
Meaning
auspicious, kindly
From the Sanskrit shiva, 'auspicious', 'gracious' or 'kindly'. The name may be a propitiatory epithet applied to a fiercer earlier deity, Rudra — calling the dangerous god the kindly one. The Sanskrit word is ordinary and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- shiva
- Shiv
Related forms: शिव · Shiva · Sivan
Pronouncing Shiv
SHIV
One syllable. Hindi gives the vowel a fuller value than English does.
Nicknames for Shiv
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
- 1984
- Most boys named
- 202492 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1730reached in 2014
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%92 in 2025, from 92
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.
Shiv in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- शिव in Hindi — transliteration
- Shiva in English — related form
- Sivan in Tamil — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New Jersey, Texas.
Shivs among us
people named Shiv are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,566 born in 2025 was named Shiv
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 Donzell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Shiv's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Donzell climbed just as high around 1990, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Donzell's path sketches the road Shiv is walking now.
Shiv 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 Shiv is headed
Shiv 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.
Shiv beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Shiv in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The auspicious meaning is transparent and its propitiatory origin is genuinely interesting.
- One of the principal deities of a world religion carries it.
- One syllable, short, and never mispronounced.
- The English 'shiv', a makeshift blade, is an unrelated homograph.
- The Hebrew shiva, the mourning period, is a separate and unrelated word.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
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What they receive
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Shiv
Masculine · #1753 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Shivs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Shiv are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shiv in 2025?
- Shiv ranks #1753 among US boy names in 2025, with 92 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Shiv?
- About 1 in every 18,566 US boys born in 2025 was named Shiv — 92 in all.
- Will my child share the name Shiv with classmates?
- Shiv will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Shiv
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ames#1753 · Yehoshua#1753 · Salomon#1753 · Akai#1753 · Keyler#1753 · Arley#1753 · Riaan#1753 · Zealand#1753
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shiv? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Shiv and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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