Shelly
Shelly was given to 21 girls in 2025, #5,883 among girls’ names; 86,610 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 77,000 Americans named Shelly and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (89% of everyone recorded); the median is 57 years old and half are between 50 and 62.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Shelly by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Shelly mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Shelly is “a female given name transferred from the surname, of 1930s and later usage, variant of Shelley.”
Also “a male given name transferred from the surname, of mostly pre-1930 usage.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Shelly?
#5,883 among girls’ names, 2025
Shelly fell from #3,522 in 2015 to #5,883 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 25.2 to 13.1 per million.
4,127 babies in 1964, the peak
Shelly peaked in 1964, when 4,127 babies were given it (4,080 girls, #101 among girls’ names). The 21 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 21 | #5,883 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 30 | #4,648 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 20 | #6,125 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 28 | #4,886 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 30 | #4,590 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 25 | #5,144 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 29 | #4,757 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 29 | #4,755 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 34 | #4,295 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 36 | #4,146 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (103)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 45 | #3,522 | 0.03 |
| 2014 | 50 | #3,264 | 0.03 |
| 2013 | 52 | #3,160 | 0.03 |
| 2012 | 52 | #3,202 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 39 | #3,903 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 57 | #3,005 | 0.03 |
| 2009 | 80 | #2,418 | 0.04 |
| 2008 | 69 | #2,683 | 0.04 |
| 2007 | 73 | #2,566 | 0.04 |
| 2006 | 89 | #2,181 | 0.05 |
| 2005 | 109 | #1,798 | 0.06 |
| 2004 | 100 | #1,890 | 0.05 |
| 2003 | 114 | #1,684 | 0.06 |
| 2002 | 123 | #1,546 | 0.07 |
| 2001 | 125 | #1,504 | 0.07 |
| 2000 | 147 | #1,302 | 0.08 |
| 1999 | 158 | #1,208 | 0.09 |
| 1998 | 168 | #1,131 | 0.10 |
| 1997 | 166 | #1,129 | 0.10 |
| 1996 | 217 | #906 | 0.12 |
| 1995 | 240 | #820 | 0.14 |
| 1994 | 281 | #740 | 0.16 |
| 1993 | 307 | #699 | 0.17 |
| 1992 | 348 | #647 | 0.19 |
| 1991 | 434 | #539 | 0.23 |
| 1990 | 413 | #564 | 0.22 |
| 1989 | 466 | #505 | 0.25 |
| 1988 | 537 | #430 | 0.30 |
| 1987 | 629 | #371 | 0.36 |
| 1986 | 744 | #326 | 0.43 |
| 1985 | 885 | #282 | 0.51 |
| 1984 | 949 | #258 | 0.56 |
| 1983 | 1,073 | #230 | 0.64 |
| 1982 | 1,137 | #226 | 0.67 |
| 1981 | 1,228 | #212 | 0.74 |
| 1980 | 1,451 | #186 | 0.87 |
| 1979 | 1,456 | #182 | 0.91 |
| 1978 | 1,501 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 1977 | 1,848 | #151 | 1.2 |
| 1976 | 1,861 | #145 | 1.3 |
| 1975 | 2,484 | #113 | 1.7 |
| 1974 | 2,797 | #107 | 1.9 |
| 1973 | 2,910 | #104 | 2.0 |
| 1972 | 3,288 | #94 | 2.2 |
| 1971 | 3,637 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1970 | 3,751 | #103 | 2.1 |
| 1969 | 3,676 | #102 | 2.2 |
| 1968 | 3,595 | #98 | 2.2 |
| 1967 | 3,648 | #94 | 2.2 |
| 1966 | 3,856 | #89 | 2.3 |
| 1965 | 3,850 | #98 | 2.2 |
| 1964 | 4,080 | #101 | 2.2 |
| 1963 | 3,790 | #117 | 2.0 |
| 1962 | 3,480 | #130 | 1.8 |
| 1961 | 2,994 | #145 | 1.5 |
| 1960 | 2,692 | #157 | 1.3 |
| 1959 | 1,883 | #188 | 0.93 |
| 1958 | 1,379 | #221 | 0.69 |
| 1957 | 1,210 | #245 | 0.59 |
| 1956 | 929 | #291 | 0.46 |
| 1955 | 786 | #306 | 0.40 |
| 1954 | 759 | #306 | 0.39 |
| 1953 | 571 | #355 | 0.30 |
| 1952 | 538 | #354 | 0.29 |
| 1951 | 407 | #414 | 0.23 |
| 1950 | 333 | #440 | 0.19 |
| 1949 | 181 | #614 | 0.11 |
| 1948 | 102 | #865 | 0.06 |
| 1947 | 74 | #1,036 | 0.04 |
| 1946 | 71 | #1,003 | 0.05 |
| 1945 | 74 | #880 | 0.06 |
| 1944 | 52 | #1,086 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 66 | #984 | 0.05 |
| 1942 | 57 | #1,044 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 35 | #1,308 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 36 | #1,240 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 39 | #1,178 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 31 | #1,338 | 0.03 |
| 1937 | 31 | #1,328 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 19 | #1,792 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 18 | #1,904 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 17 | #1,989 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 6 | #4,155 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 17 | #2,021 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 10 | #2,948 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 6 | #4,495 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 7 | #4,135 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 12 | #2,836 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 5 | #5,516 | under 0.01 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,623 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,915 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 6 | #4,934 | under 0.01 |
| 1916 | 5 | #5,057 | under 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Shelly a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 86,610 Americans recorded as Shelly, 97% are girls and 3% boys. In 2025 it went to 21 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Shelly: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Shelly, and how old are they?
77,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 89% of the 86,610 Americans ever recorded as Shelly. The median Shelly alive today is 57 years old; half are between 50 and 62.
The 2020 Census counted 75,244 people named Shelly (74,327 women and girls, 917 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 79,440 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 | 319 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 22,400 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 42,400 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 9,680 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,660 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 426 |
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 Shelly born?
The states with the most babies named Shelly are California, Texas and Michigan, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 9,102 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Texas | 5,954 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 5,167 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Ohio | 4,977 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 3,479 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 3,438 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| New York | 3,394 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Missouri | 2,766 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Oklahoma | 2,694 | not ranked | 2.4× |
| Indiana | 2,536 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Shelly is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Shelly is most over-represented in Oklahoma: since 1910 it was given 2.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ 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 Shelly 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 8 names spelled alike, given to 471,743 babies since 1880, Shelly is the second most given (18% of them). In 2025 it was given to 21 of their 177 babies (12%), the third most given that year.
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.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Shelly
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Shelly and names like it
- Compare Shelly and SheilaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sShelly peaked in 1964.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Shelly since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Shelly: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1964The year the most babies were named Shelly.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Shelly alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with SMost given first.