 A 1994 article in "The American Muslim" claims that the name is from the Arabic words شعب "sha‘b", "a people", and عز "‘azz", "to be mighty or glorious".There is also a similar (but etymologically unrelated) Persian name, Shahbâz, meaning "royal falcon".Indicating "royalty and nobility", the name is popular with Bosnian, Turkish, Indian and Pakistani Muslims.