Shade
Shade is given to both girls and boys: 6 girls and 11 boys were given it in 2025 (#14,671 among girls’ names and #7,591 among boys’, #11,752 among all names counting both); 2,025 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,720 Americans named Shade and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (85% of everyone recorded); the median is 29 years old and half are between 19 and 36.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Shade by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Shade?
#7,591 among boys’ names, 2025
Shade fell from #4,523 in 2015 to #7,591 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 11.5 to 6.4 per million.
88 babies in 1993, the peak
Shade peaked in 1993, when 88 babies were given it (29 boys, #2,563 among boys’ names). The 17 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 19% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | #14,671 | 11 | #7,591 |
| 2024 | 5 | #17,305 | 17 | #5,613 |
| 2023 | under 5 | 19 | #5,212 | |
| 2022 | under 5 | 14 | #6,415 | |
| 2021 | under 5 | 19 | #5,077 | |
| 2020 | 6 | #14,841 | 14 | #6,231 |
| 2019 | 5 | #17,594 | 19 | #5,119 |
| 2018 | 5 | #17,739 | 20 | #4,890 |
| 2017 | under 5 | 20 | #4,904 | |
| 2016 | under 5 | 14 | #6,291 |
Every recorded year (92)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5 | #18,695 | 22 | #4,523 |
| 2014 | under 5 | 12 | #6,983 | |
| 2013 | under 5 | 19 | #4,943 | |
| 2012 | 5 | #19,106 | 26 | #3,985 |
| 2011 | 9 | #11,993 | 18 | #5,158 |
| 2010 | 10 | #11,117 | 21 | #4,648 |
| 2009 | 7 | #14,979 | 18 | #5,273 |
| 2008 | 12 | #9,976 | 26 | #4,013 |
| 2007 | 10 | #11,492 | 28 | #3,773 |
| 2006 | 9 | #12,256 | 24 | #4,077 |
| 2005 | 19 | #6,490 | 21 | #4,301 |
| 2004 | 8 | #12,552 | 15 | #5,439 |
| 2003 | 23 | #5,378 | 20 | #4,248 |
| 2002 | 21 | #5,636 | 17 | #4,664 |
| 2001 | 32 | #4,012 | 18 | #4,431 |
| 2000 | 35 | #3,712 | 21 | #3,886 |
| 1999 | 29 | #4,058 | 28 | #3,014 |
| 1998 | 33 | #3,625 | 25 | #3,168 |
| 1997 | 39 | #3,090 | 33 | #2,491 |
| 1996 | 41 | #2,944 | 24 | #3,086 |
| 1995 | 36 | #3,201 | 25 | #2,904 |
| 1994 | 49 | #2,571 | 24 | #3,009 |
| 1993 | 59 | #2,233 | 29 | #2,563 |
| 1992 | 37 | #3,126 | 16 | #3,884 |
| 1991 | 42 | #2,829 | 9 | #5,852 |
| 1990 | 35 | #3,207 | 11 | #4,930 |
| 1989 | 44 | #2,596 | 15 | #3,773 |
| 1988 | 42 | #2,576 | 13 | #3,868 |
| 1987 | 41 | #2,515 | 8 | #5,371 |
| 1986 | 61 | #1,857 | 7 | #5,826 |
| 1985 | 33 | #2,846 | 6 | #6,398 |
| 1983 | 5 | #11,670 | 15 | #3,048 |
| 1982 | under 5 | 9 | #4,527 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 5 | #7,103 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 6 | #6,118 | |
| 1979 | 5 | #11,546 | 8 | #4,783 |
| 1978 | under 5 | 9 | #4,109 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 7 | #5,028 | |
| 1976 | 6 | #8,990 | 6 | #5,486 |
| 1975 | under 5 | 8 | #4,245 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 7 | #4,367 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 5 | #4,641 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 5 | #4,450 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 6 | #3,968 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 6 | #3,973 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 9 | #3,063 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 8 | #3,067 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 5 | #4,122 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 6 | #3,282 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 5 | #3,972 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 6 | #3,514 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 6 | #3,446 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 5 | #3,868 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 5 | #3,909 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 8 | #2,835 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 6 | #3,478 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 5 | #4,076 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 5 | #4,212 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 9 | #2,845 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 10 | #2,760 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 15 | #2,143 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 9 | #3,117 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 7 | #3,811 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 7 | #3,765 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 7 | #3,814 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 16 | #2,137 | |
| 1920 | under 5 | 5 | #4,875 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 10 | #2,839 | |
| 1918 | under 5 | 13 | #2,378 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 14 | #2,176 | |
| 1916 | under 5 | 7 | #3,459 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 12 | #2,283 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 10 | #2,247 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 6 | #1,559 | |
| 1907 | under 5 | 6 | #1,320 | |
| 1892 | under 5 | 7 | #942 | |
| 1891 | under 5 | 6 | #945 | |
| 1890 | under 5 | 5 | #1,138 | |
| 1887 | under 5 | 6 | #904 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 7 | #825 | |
| 1882 | under 5 | 7 | #826 | |
| 1880 | under 5 | 8 | #737 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Shade a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 2,025 Americans recorded as Shade, 43% are girls and 57% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Shade: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Shade, and how old are they?
1,720 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 85% of the 2,025 Americans ever recorded as Shade. The median Shade alive today is 29 years old; half are between 19 and 36.
The 2020 Census counted 1,570 people named Shade (837 women and girls, 733 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,647 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 16 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 24 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 65 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 718 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 650 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 250 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Shade born?
The states with the most babies named Shade are New York, Illinois and California, with 68% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 121 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 27 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| California | 23 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Texas | 17 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| New Jersey | 15 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Kentucky | 11 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Florida | 10 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| North Carolina | 10 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Maryland | 10 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Ohio | 7 | not ranked | 0.1× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Shade with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 3,919 babies since 1880, Shade is the most given (52% of them). In 2025 it was given to 17 of their 25 babies (68%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
More about Shade and names like it
- Compare Shade and ShadiBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sShade peaked in 1993.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Shade since 1910.
- The top names of 1993The year the most babies were named Shade.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Shade alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with SMost given first.