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Shaft
How to Pronounce Shaft
Pronounced SHAFT /ΛΚΓ¦ft/High
Meaning: Shaft is the ordinary English word and surname 'shaft' pressed briefly into service as a first name. Its appearance as a given name from 1971 onward tracks the release of the film 'Shaft' and its detective hero John Shaft, making this a media namesake rather than a traditional name.Low
Popularity in the U.S. Β· SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880βpresent). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Shaft is not a traditional given name but an English word and occasional surname that became, for a short time, a boy's first name. The timing is telling: its use begins in 1971 and clusters in the years just after, aligning with the release and cultural splash of the film Shaft and its hero John Shaft.
It was always vanishingly rare, given to only a handful of boys a year and fading out within a couple of decades. As a name it reads entirely as a nod to the movie - a snapshot of how a single film can push an unlikely word onto birth certificates for a brief span.
Variations
Nicknames
Famous Bearers
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John Shaft (fictional)The private detective hero of the 1971 film Shaft and its sequels, the likely inspiration for the name's brief use.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Shaft mean?
Shaft is the English word 'shaft' used as a rare given name, linked to the 1971 film hero John Shaft.
How do you pronounce Shaft?
It's said SHAFT /ΛΚΓ¦ft/ - one syllable.
Is Shaft a boy or girl name?
Shaft is recorded here as a boy's name.
How popular is Shaft?
Shaft has always been extremely rare, appearing briefly in the early nineteen-seventies after the film of the same name.