Explore the Family Name Shiva

The meaning of Shiva

Indian: from a personal name from Sanskrit shiva meaning ‘pure’ or ‘auspicious’. This is the name of a Hindu god, regarded by many Hindus as the supreme deity. Compare Siva.

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

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

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Shiva has seen a significant rise in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 149,328th most popular surname, but by 2010, it had risen to become the 108,734th most popular, representing an increase of 27.18%. Over the same period, the absolute count of individuals with this surname grew from 101 to 163, a substantial growth of 61.39%. Proportionally, this meant that for every 100,000 people, there were 0.04 in 2000 and 0.06 in 2010 bearing the surname Shiva, amounting to a 50.0% increase.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#149,328	#108,734	27.18%
Count	101	163	61.39%
Proportion per 100k	0.04	0.06	50%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shiva

When it comes to ethnic identity of those carrying the surname Shiva, Census data highlight some interesting shifts between 2000 and 2010. The proportion of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander jumped from 22.77% to 33.74%, a change of 48.18%. However, the percentage of people of mixed ethnicity significantly decreased, going from 14.85% to 4.29%, a drop of 71.11%. The portion identifying as White remained almost constant, with a minimal decrease from 60.40% to 60.12%. There was no change in the proportions of those identifying as Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native, with these categories all remaining at 0.00%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	60.4%	60.12%	-0.46%
Asian/Pacific Islander	22.77%	33.74%	48.18%
Two or More Races	14.85%	4.29%	-71.11%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%