# Shah (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/shah/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Persian or Gujarati.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Persian |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 58,287 |
| US rank (2010) | 573 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 5,297 people |
| Change since 2000 | +54% (37,833 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Two main origins: * Borrowed from Persian شاه (“shah, king”), a Persian surname which is widespread in Iran and in the subcontinent. * Borrowed from Gujarati સાહ (sāh, “merchant”), an occupational surname from Sanskrit साधु (sādhu, “merchant; jeweller; money-lender”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Shah in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 3.6% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 0.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 92% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 2.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Shah in India, Afghanistan, British Raj, the United Kingdom and Kedah Sultanate.

## People named Shah

- Ahmad Shah Bahadur, 13th Mughal Emperor from 1748 to 1754
- Prachee Shah Pandya, actress
- Rahmat Shah, Afghan cricketer
- Meena Shah, badminton player
- Amit Shah, British actor
- Badlishah of Kedah, 26th Sultan of Kedah (1894–1958)
- Ami Ghia, badminton player

## Similar surnames

Shaw, Shea, Shay, Shih, Shao, Shieh, Sha, Sá, Sawh, Seay, Su, Shi.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.