Shai

Used for both boys and girlsStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Shai: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Shai: Recorded every year since 1996, its highest recorded position is #1,110, and it stood at #1,460 in 2024.

1registrar recorded it
57times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#1110highest recorded position
8groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1755
1997	#1126
1998	#1979
1999	#1805
2000	#2167
2001	#2023
2003	#1996
2004	#2112
2005	#2970
2006	#3548
2007	#2233
2008	#2150
2009	#4564
2010	#2589
2011	#2432
2012	#4171
2013	#4050
2014	#4003
2015	#3615
2016	#4763
2017	#5765
2018	#3178
2019	#5591
2020	#3899
2021	#3519
2022	#3533
2023	#4056
2024	#5891

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

Official data for England and Wales, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #1755 among girls in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #1110 among boys in England and Wales, in 1998 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #5891 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Shai appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 394 births with the name.

Shai across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Shai's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#1591 (1996)	#1110 (1998)	#1460 (2024)	29 of 29	394 (1996–2024)	24 (2012)
England and Wales · Girls	#1755 (1996)	#1126 (1997)	#5891 (2024)	28 of 29	194 (1996–2024)	17 (1997)

Shai by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Shai in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	37	4 of 10	9
2000s	132	10 of 10	13
2010sbusiest	153	10 of 10	15
2020s	72	5 of 10	14

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 15 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Shai appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Recorded in official data for England and Wales from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #1110 in England and Wales in 1998.

Shai's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#5891	3	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#1460	18	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#4056	5	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#2325	9	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#3533	6	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1609	15	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#3519	6	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#1448	17	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#3899	5	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1723	13	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#5591	3	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#2266	9	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#3178	7	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1610	15	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#5765	3	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#2324	9	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#4763	4	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#2027	11	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#3615	6	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1673	14	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#4003	5	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1630	14	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#4050	5	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1147	22	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#4171	5	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1119	24	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#2432	10	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1688	13	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#2589	9	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#1171	22	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#4564	4	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1568	14	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#2150	11	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#1242	19	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#2233	10	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#1252	18	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#3548	5	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#1401	14	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#2970	6	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#1456	13	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#2112	9	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1498	11	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#1996	9	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1188	14	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#1411	10	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#2023	8	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#1595	8	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#2167	7	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#1241	11	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#1805	9	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#1199	11	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#1979	8	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#1110	12	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#1126	17	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#1578	7	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#1755	9	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#1591	7	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 1 registrar between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #1,110, first reached in 1998.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 24 births, registered in England and Wales in 2012.

1 registrar publishes it in more than one category list, holding a place in each for at least five years — an observation about those lists rather than about the name.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Shahzaib · #875, 29y
Shahzain · #723, 17y
Shaikh · #1761, 20y
Shailen · #2319, 17y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 1 registrar, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Haashim · #1110, 28y
Joby · #1110, 28y
Kwaku · #1110, 27y
Llyr · #1110, 27y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Haashim · #1110, 28y
Joby · #1110, 28y
Khan · #1110, 21y
Kwaku · #1110, 27y

Shai and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Shai without appearing here.

Shai moved ahead of

Graham Compare
In 2023 they stood at #2325 and #1533 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1460 and #5119.
Finlay Compare
In 2009 they stood at #4564 and #4564 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2010 that had become #2589 and #5707.
Keith Compare
In 2023 they stood at #2325 and #2325 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1460 and #3688.
Tyler Compare
In 2020 they stood at #5591 and #4001 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #3519 and #5581.

Moved ahead of Shai

Rory Compare
In 2016 they stood at #3615 and #5730 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2017 that had become #5765 and #2706.
Shea Compare
In 2023 they stood at #4056 and #5687 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #5891 and #3015.
Meabh Compare
In 2015 they stood at #3615 and #4103 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #4763 and #2233.
Ezra Compare
In 2013 they stood at #4050 and #5742 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2014 that had become #4003 and #1628.

Moved the opposite way to Shai

Ada Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Shai went from #1755 to #5891 while Ada went from #2683 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Shai went from #1755 to #5891 while Alma went from #2096 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Shai went from #1755 to #5891 while Alyssa went from #783 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Shai went from #1755 to #5891 while Amalie went from #2096 to #1128.

Moved the same way as Shai

Abigail Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Shai went from #1755 to #5891 and Abigail from #21 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Shai went from #1755 to #5891 and Aimee from #70 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Shai went from #1755 to #5891 and Aisling from #440 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Shai went from #1755 to #5891 and Alex from #161 to #2253.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Recorded in official data for England and Wales from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #1110 in England and Wales in 1998. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Shai

Shai at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Shai across 2 official records

Shai by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Shai appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Shai and the names beside it

Shai moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Shai

Moved the opposite way to Shai

Moved the same way as Shai

Shai at a glance

Shai across 2 official records

Shai by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Shai appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Shai and the names beside it

Shai moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Shai

Moved the opposite way to Shai

Moved the same way as Shai