Worldwide, ﺷﻤﺲ (ﺷﻤﺲ 
) is quite a rare gender-neutral given name. The given name ﺷﻤﺲ is characteristic of Northern Africa, particularly Egypt, where it is quite a rare unisex name, Libya, and Sudan. Not in comparison with a country's population, the name is most common in Egypt, Sudan, and Iraq. Much less frequently, ﺷﻤﺲ is the last name as well as the forename.