Girls' name · peaked in 1977
Shana name popularity since 1925
29,748 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Shana. Half of them were born in 1981 or earlier, so the typical Shana is about 45 years old in 2026. Shana peaked in 1977 as the #183 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 29,748
- Named Shana, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #5,213 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 29,635 girls · 113 boys
- Most popular in
- South Carolina
- 1.45× its national share
Peak year is the year Shana made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Shana births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1984. Measured as a share of all babies, Shana peaked in 1977.
- Fastest rise: Between 1964 and 1969, Shana became 5.7× more common, from 1 in 10,900 baby girls to 1 in 1,920.
- Steepest fall: Between 1996 and 2001, its share of baby girls fell by 59%, from 1 in 5,130 to 1 in 12,400.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Shana's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Shana.
Decade by decade
Babies named Shana in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 13 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 90 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 313 | 0 | #1,797 |
| 1960s | 2,905 | 0 | #587 |
| 1970s | 10,230 | 52 | #239 |
| 1980s | 9,957 | 54 | #189 |
| 1990s | 4,424 | 7 | #610 |
| 2000s | 1,188 | 0 | #1,729 |
| 2010s | 367 | 0 | #4,059 |
| 2020–25 | 148 | 0 | #5,213 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
45.5% of babies named Shana from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Shana is most popular
The index compares Shana's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Shana.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | 1.45× | 556 |
| Oklahoma | 1.43× | 510 |
| Arkansas | 1.35× | 379 |
| Mississippi | 1.32× | 437 |
| Tennessee | 1.27× | 732 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Shana and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Shana (this page) | 29,635 | 1977 |
| Shanna | 28,284 | 1978 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Shana's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Shana.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Shana (1977).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data