MEANING & CONTEXT
What does Shiva mean?
The Sanskrit adjective śiva expresses auspiciousness or benevolence. As a deity name it is associated with the title Shankara, maker of well-being. Shiva is traditionally depicted with a trident and a crescent moon in his hair.
Pronunciation
IAST: śiva
Meaning themes
Spellings in Indian scripts
Devanagari
शिव
Letter-by-letter: śiva
Conventional spelling
Kannada
ಶಿವ
Conventional spelling
Devanagari
शिवा
Letter-by-letter: śivā
32,148 records for this spelling. Historical records ↗
HISTORICAL VOTER RECORDS
Shiva in Indian usage
68,095 historical electoral-roll records, chiefly adults, rather than current baby-name rankings.
Used for both boys and girls in these historical records; the recorded sex does not determine anyone’s identity.
- Recorded as female: 19,033 records (28%).
- Recorded as male: 49,062 records (72%).
By birth decade
| Birth decade | Records |
|---|---|
| 1930s | 406 |
| 1940s | 1,132 |
| 1950s | 2,536 |
| 1960s | 5,163 |
| 1970s | 8,417 |
| 1980s | 20,876 |
| 1990s | 29,431 |
| Other decades | 134 |
By state or territory
| State / territory | Records |
|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | 29,279 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 15,658 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 5,843 |
| Bihar | 5,219 |
| Jharkhand | 2,843 |
| Rajasthan | 2,212 |
| Delhi | 1,735 |
| Punjab | 872 |
| Uttarakhand | 748 |
| Haryana | 747 |
| Maharashtra | 512 |
| Goa | 456 |
| Sikkim | 438 |
| Karnataka | 422 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 404 |
| Kerala | 254 |
| Other states | 453 |
How to read these numbers
Small counts and a second count where needed are withheld for privacy; an omitted value is not zero. Coverage, dates and suppression.
Recorded abroad
Official births registered in 2025, for the exact spelling shown.
| Jurisdiction | Spelling / recorded sex | Births | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | Shiva / M | 6 | 3,256 |
ONS and National Records of Scotland; Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3. Counts follow each office’s publication rules.
Explore related lists
Sources
- Historical Indian voter-record totals, v3 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Historical usage; CC0 1.0; birth years 1910–2001
- England & Wales 2025 birth statistics: Exact spelling Shiva; Table_6, C3618 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Exact spelling Shiva; Table_6, C3618
- Monier-Williams, śiva, p. 1074,1 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Adapted dictionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0.