The Shah surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 58,287 people carried this name — #573 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 5,060 people counted. That is up 54% from 37,833 in 2000.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 875 people named Shah live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Antwerp.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
416 people named Shah live in Switzerland.
They live in 16 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Poland’s population register
45 people named Shah have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 570 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 8 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 44 people named Shah.
Most of them — 37 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 6 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
1,528 people named Shah are counted in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0 · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Scotland’s registers today
Shah was recorded 37 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.
That made it the 684th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.
National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
In print
Shah in American newspapers,
1914.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 113 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Shah in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1990s.
1,756 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Shah. The most, 434, date from the 1920s. Queensland has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Western Australia, at 2.6 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Shah.
Who carried it
People named Shah,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Miran Shah 1366–1408 · military leader -
Jahandar Shah 1661–1713 · politician -
Munim Pak 1671–1771 · writer -
Adil Shah 1719–1749 · monarch -
Prithvi Narayan Shah 1723–1775 · monarch
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped — Munim Pak: Samarkbnce, CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); the others are in the public domain or CC0 · 245 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Shah,
in the records of 5 countries.
Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.
United States82 records
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 71
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 4
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 4
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 2
- Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 1
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Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Khawja M. ShahBorn 1907. Enlisted 1942 at Boston, Massachusetts; auto mechanic from Suffolk County.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Joseph ShahArrived at New York in 1854 aboard the Currituck Blackhawk from Antwerp and Liverpool, aged 33; laborer. From Germany.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) -
Example: U.S. burial record, 1864 Burial record Omar Saleem ShahU.S. Air Force veteran of World War II and the Korean War. Born 1927, died 1992; buried at Hampton National Cemetery, Virginia.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
Showing 3 of 82 records for Shah in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).
Australia42 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 30
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 5
- NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 3
- Tasmanian Names Index 3
- Canberra cemetery and marriage records 1
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Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Akhtar ShahTeacher of Thornbury, Victoria; died 1988.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Sydney ShahArrived in Victoria in 1899 aboard the Oruba, aged 31.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Leonard Allen ShahDied 1897 in Launceston, Tasmania.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 42 records for Shah in Australia.
Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
France9 records
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Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Zaid Hussain ShahBorn 1949 in Pakistan; died 2000 in Gonesse (Val-d'Oise).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Jacqueline ShahBorn 1950 in Ireland; died 2000 in Les Abymes (Guadeloupe).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Syad Ibrar Hussain ShahBorn 1964 in the United Kingdom; died 1992 in Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (Ardèche).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Showing 3 of 9 records for Shah in France.
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
New Zealand6 records
- Christchurch City cemetery records 4
- Waimakariri District cemetery records, Canterbury 2
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Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Solomon ShahDied 1909, aged 39; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.
Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Agnes Thomasina ShahDied 1984; buried at Kaiapoi Public Cemetery, Canterbury.
Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Alice Evelyn ShahDied 1918, aged 19; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.
Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 6 records for Shah in New Zealand.
Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).
Canada2 records
- City of Calgary cemetery records 1
- City of Winnipeg cemetery records 1
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Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Henny Hammerich ShahDied 1994, aged 56; buried at St. Vital Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. -
Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Rajiv Lakhmichand ShahBuried in 1978 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta.
City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Shah.
- Sgro 1,165 · U.S. census
- Shackelford 11,525 · U.S. census
- Shackleford 3,751 · U.S. census
- Shade 7,148 · U.S. census
- Shafer 25,641 · U.S. census
- Shaffer 59,943 · U.S. census
- Shanahan 8,616 · U.S. census
- Shane 7,372 · U.S. census
- Shaner 5,121 · U.S. census
- Shank 13,343 · U.S. census
- Shanklin 3,804 · U.S. census
- Shanks 11,822 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Shah is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.