Girl · #14,177 in 2026

Shemya

Shemya or Simiya is a small island in the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands chain in the Aleutian Islands archipelago southwest of Alaska, at 52°43′27″N 174°07′08″E. It has a land area of 5.903 sq mi (15.29 km2), and is about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. It is 2.73 miles (4.39 km) wide and 4.32 miles (6.95 km) long.

Current Rank
#14,177
Peak Rank
#9,873 (2000)
Total Babies
33
5-Yr Trend
Stable
1999
First Year
2004
Last Year
2000
Peak Year
#9873
Peak Rank
33
Total Count
5
Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Shemya

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Shemya or Simiya is a small island in the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands chain in the Aleutian Islands archipelago southwest of Alaska, at 52°43′27″N 174°07′08″E. It has a land area of 5.903 sq mi (15.29 km2), and is about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. It is 2.73 miles (4.39 km) wide and 4.32 miles (6.95 km) long.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

Origin & history
Shemya Island north shore The Russian vessel Saint Peter and Paul was wrecked at Shemya in 1762. Most of the crew survived. In 1943, a United States Air Force radar surveillance, weather station , aircraft refueling station, and a 10,000-foot-long (3,000 m) runway opened on Shemya and are still in operation. At its peak in the 1960s, the station, originally Shemya Air Force Base or Shemya Station, had 1,500 workers. In 1956, Northwest Airlines leased Shemya Island from the U.S. government to use as a refueling station on their North Pacific route. According to Northwest's website, that made th

The Story of Shemya

American parents first put Shemya on the record books as a baby girl name in 1999, with 7 registered babies. Its peak popularity came in 2000, when 9 Shemyas were born — ranking #9,873 that year. About 79% of every Shemya on record arrived during the 2000s, its defining decade. Shemya last appeared in the published SSA data in 2004, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 33 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1990s to the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

ME
WA
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
VT
NH
MA
OR
ID
SD
IA
IL
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
NV
WY
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
DC
UT
CO
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
AK
AZ
NM
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
HI
TX
FL
Top 10
11-50
51-100
101-500
500+
No data

Where is Shemya most common?

Predicted country distribution based on naming patterns globally.

  • United States
    48%
  • JM
    24%
  • QA
    14%
  • Canada
    8%
  • SA
    6%

Source: Nationalize.io . Probabilities are global naming-pattern estimates, not strict counts.

Names that sound like Shemya

Phonetically similar names — useful when Shemya is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Shemya

What does the name Shemya mean?
Shemya or Simiya is a small island in the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands chain in the Aleutian Islands archipelago southwest of Alaska, at 52°43′27″N 174°07′08″E. It has a land area of 5.903 sq mi (15.29 km2), and is about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. It is 2.73 miles (4.39 km) wide and 4.32 miles (6.95 km) long.
How popular is Shemya in 2026?
In 2026, Shemya ranks #14,177 among girls' names in the U.S., with 6 babies given the name that year.
When was Shemya most popular?
Shemya reached its peak popularity in 2000, ranking #9,873 that year with 9 babies given the name.
Is Shemya a unisex name?
In U.S. Social Security records, Shemya is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name.
What names go well with Shemya?
Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Shemya include Azalie, Cela, Marcianna. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.

Similar Names

👧
Azalie
Peak #9873
👧
Cela
Peak #9873
👧
Marcianna
Peak #9873
👧
Ibet
Peak #9873
👧
Dorianna
Peak #9873
👧
Camil
Peak #9873
👧
Curran
Peak #9873
👧
Katira
Peak #9873

About the name Shemya

Shemya is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1999 and has accumulated 33 births in the dataset. Shemya's peak popularity came in 2000 when it ranked #9,873. Use the chart and map above to compare Shemya's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

  • Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
  • Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
  • Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
  • Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
  • Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.