Explore the Family Name Shastri

The meaning of Shastri

Indian: Brahmin name, from Sanskrit šāstrī ‘one who has acquired knowledge of the shastras’ (from šāstra ‘book of rules, religious treatise’). Compare Sastry.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Shastri in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Shastri has seen a rise in popularity in the United States over the past decade. In 2000, this name was ranked as the 50,468th most popular surname, but by 2010 it had moved up to the 40,672nd spot, reflecting an increase of just over 19%. The count of individuals with this surname also expanded during this period, from 389 in 2000 to 537 in 2010, which corresponds to a growth rate of 38.05%. Accordingly, the proportion of people named Shastri per 100,000 residents in the US rose from 0.14 to 0.18 during this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#50,468	#40,672	19.41%
Count	389	537	38.05%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.18	28.57%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shastri

The Decennial U.S. Census data also reveals interesting insights about the ethnic identities associated with the Shastri surname. The vast majority identified as Asian/Pacific Islander in both years, accounting for 92.29% in 2000 and increasing slightly to 93.85% in 2010. The second largest group identified with two or more ethnicities, although their numbers fell from 2.83% to 2.05% over the course of the decade. Meanwhile, those identifying as White dropped significantly from 3.86% to 1.86%. There were no respondents who identified as Hispanic or Black in either year, while the American Indian and Alaskan Native category saw a minor appearance in 2010 after none in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	92.29%	93.85%	1.69%
Two or More Races	2.83%	2.05%	-27.56%
White	3.86%	1.86%	-51.81%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	1.49%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%