How common is the surname Shah?

58,287 people in the United States had the surname Shah in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,297 Americans. It ranked 573rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Shah?

Ahmad Shah Bahadur, 13th Mughal Emperor from 1748 to 1754, followed by Prachee Shah Pandya.

Where is the surname Shah most common?

Wikidata records people named Shah in India, Afghanistan and British Raj and 2 other countries.

Is the surname Shah getting more or less common?

More common. 37,833 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 58,287 in 2010, up 54%.

The surname Shah

A Persian occupational surname, carried by 58,287 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex S000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Shah is more common than 99.6% of them.

Origin

Persian origin

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”).

Shah is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 28 Persian surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 58,287 people named Shah in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 5,297 Americans. That is up 54% since 2000, when the Census counted 37,833.

#573

rank among US surnames

58,287

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+54.1%

change since 2000 (was #831)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#564	Hess	59,486	5,190
#565	Beil	59,463	5,192
#566	Olsen	59,356	5,202
#567	Cochran	59,350	5,202
#568	Morton	59,213	5,214
#569	Nash	58,714	5,258
#570	Wilkins	58,634	5,266

Who is named Shah

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

92% of people named Shah identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 3.6% as white (not Hispanic) and 2.7% as two or more races.

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

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Shahs

7 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ahmad Shah Bahadur
13th Mughal Emperor from 1748 to 1754
Prachee Shah Pandya
Actress, born 1980
Rahmat Shah
Afghan cricketer, born 1993
Meena Shah
Badminton player, 1937–2015
Amit Shah
British actor, born 1981
Badlishah of Kedah
26th Sultan of Kedah (1894–1958)
Ami Ghia
Badminton player, born 1956

Notable Shahs come mostly from India (2), Afghanistan (1) and British Raj (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Shah

Shah has the Soundex code S000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S000.

Other Persian surnames

All 28 Persian surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Shah come from?: 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”).
How common is the surname Shah?: 58,287 people in the United States had the surname Shah in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,297 Americans. It ranked 573rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Shah?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Shah identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 3.6% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Shah?: Ahmad Shah Bahadur, 13th Mughal Emperor from 1748 to 1754, followed by Prachee Shah Pandya.
Where is the surname Shah most common?: Wikidata records people named Shah in India, Afghanistan and British Raj and 2 other countries.
What type of surname is Shah?: Shah is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Shah getting more or less common?: More common. 37,833 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 58,287 in 2010, up 54%.