Shlok comes from the Sanskrit shloka, which means "verse" or "sacred hymn", the classic meter in which the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are composed. It is a modern Indian given name used by Hindu families, including many in the United States. Shlok peaked at number 1976 among US boys in 2014 and has settled between numbers 2007 and 2969 since then, ranking 2789 in 2025.