Shams

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Shams: Recorded since 1997, its highest recorded position is #2,411, reached in 2024.

1registrar recorded it
27times a registrar ranked it
28years from first to last
#2411highest recorded position
5groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1998–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1998	#3848
2007	#4294
2010	#5707
2011	#3549
2013	#5742
2014	#5691
2016	#3609
2018	#3518
2019	#3541
2020	#3899
2021	#2499
2022	#2888
2023	#2504
2024	#2411

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

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in 14 of the 27 years from 1998 to 2024.

Official data for England and Wales, 1997–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1997
First recorded at #2859 among boys in England and Wales in 1997 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded1998–2024
Highest recorded position: #2411 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024 (recorded 1998–2024).
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #2411 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Shams appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 14 ranked years and 84 births registered; the earliest is England and Wales · Boys, from 1997.

Shams 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.

Shams'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	#2859 (1997)	#2859 (1997)	#4991 (2023)	13 of 27	42 (1997–2023)	5 (2008)
England and Wales · Girls	#3848 (1998)	#2411 (2024)	#2411 (2024)	14 of 27	84 (1998–2024)	11 (2024)

Shams by decade in England and Wales · Girls

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 Shams in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	3	1 of 10	3
2000s	4	1 of 10	4
2010s	33	7 of 10	5
2020sbusiest	44	5 of 10	9

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 9 births a year.

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

Shams 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 1997 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #2411 in England and Wales in 2024.

Shams'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	#2411	11	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#2504	10	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#4991	3	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#2888	8	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#4789	3	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#2499	10	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#3899	5	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#4608	3	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#3541	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#3518	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#4749	3	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#3996	4	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#3609	6	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#4810	3	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#5691	3	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#5742	3	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#4805	3	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#3549	6	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#5707	3	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#4678	3	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#3158	5	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#4294	4	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#3849	3	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#3134	3	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#3848	3	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#2901	3	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#2859	3	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 1997 and 2024, ranked in 20 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #2,411, first reached in 2024.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 11 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

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.

Its record falls into 6 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 3 years.

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.

4decades with a ranked yearRecorded in 4 decades →
9 yearslongest unbroken run of ranked years
6separate stretches the record falls into6 to 9 separate stretches →
3 yearslongest absence inside the recorded period2 to 3 years missing →
#2,411position in 2024, its most recent recorded year
1registrars publishing it in more than one category listIn one registrar's lists →
11births registered in its largest year, 2024Under 25 births →

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.

Shamar · #1519, 21y
Shamari · #2435, 10y
Shamsa · #1319, 18y
Shamus · #292, 19y

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.

Apphia · #2411, 15y
Avital · #2411, 15y
Bettie · #2411, 18y
Beulah · #2411, 24y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Avital · #2411, 15y
Beulah · #2411, 24y
Deepika · #2411, 15y
Velvet · #2411, 20y

Shams 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 Shams without appearing here.

Shams moved ahead of

Hayden Compare
In 2023 they stood at #2504 and #2346 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #2411 and #5891.
Levi Compare
In 2020 they stood at #3899 and #3899 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #2499 and #5581.
Tracy Compare
In 2020 they stood at #3899 and #2449 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #2499 and #5581.
Cameron Compare
In 2023 they stood at #2504 and #2201 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #2411 and #4843.

Moved ahead of Shams

Meabh Compare
In 2012 they stood at #3549 and #4049 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #5742 and #2887.
Arlo Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3609 and #4096 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #3518 and #2340.
Blake Compare
In 2010 they stood at #4294 and #5201 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2011 that had become #3549 and #2893.

Moved the opposite way to Shams

Albie Compare
Between 1997 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Shams went from #2859 to #4991 while Albie went from #914 to #22.
Alfie Compare
Between 1997 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Shams went from #2859 to #4991 while Alfie went from #92 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1997 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Shams went from #2859 to #4991 while Alfred went from #192 to #76.
Archie Compare
Between 1997 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Shams went from #2859 to #4991 while Archie went from #141 to #13.

Moved the same way as Shams

Aaron Compare
Between 1997 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Shams went from #2859 to #4991 and Aaron from #32 to #146.
Adam Compare
Between 1997 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Shams went from #2859 to #4991 and Adam from #20 to #41.
Alan Compare
Between 1997 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Shams went from #2859 to #4991 and Alan from #179 to #464.
Alex Compare
Between 1997 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Shams went from #2859 to #4991 and Alex from #43 to #152.

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 1997 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #2411 in England and Wales in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Shams

Shams at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Shams across 2 official records

Shams by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Shams 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

Shams and the names beside it

Shams moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Shams

Moved the opposite way to Shams

Moved the same way as Shams

Shams at a glance

Shams across 2 official records

Shams by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Shams appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Shams and the names beside it

Shams moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Shams

Moved the opposite way to Shams

Moved the same way as Shams