Boys' name · since 1952
Shephard
Shephard has 84 recorded births since 1952 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 2025 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.
- #18,590 of 45,481
- all-time among boys
- #5,653 of 13,930
- 2025 SSA year
- 84
- born since 1952
- 2020s
- peak decade
Shephard currently ranks #5653 among boys' names in America, with 84 babies recorded since 1952.
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Shephard has been recorded 84 times among boys since 1952, currently ranked #5653 nationally and more common than 59% of boys, with its heaviest use in the 2020s. This profile covers year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution, all derived directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1952 to 2025.
- #18,590 of 45,481 all-time among boys
- #5,653 of 13,930 2025 SSA year
- 84 born since 1952
- 2020s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Shephard ranks #18,590 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #5,653 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. 84 born since 1952, peaking in the 2020s.
- #18,590 of 45,481
- all-time among boys
- #5,653 of 13,930
- 2025 SSA year
- 84
- born since 1952
- 2020s
- peak decade
Shephard's 84 recorded births place it above 59.1% of the 45,481 boys names in the full SSA archive.
No state rows cleared SSA’s public reporting threshold for this name.
How Shephard compares
84 23rd percentile among 13,930 names currently given to boys
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked boys names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Shephard's all-time total is 77% below the median boys name, and Liam still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Shephard | Median boys name (Takari) | #1 boys name (Liam) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 84 | 369 | 358,536 |
| Peak-year births | 16 | 34 | 22,252 |
Shephard's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Shephard splits its recorded history at 2020: 64% of all births land in the more recent half, 36% in the earlier half, a lean toward present-day use rather than a passing spike. The single quietest year was 1952 (5 births) -- compare that against the 2025 peak of 16 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.
Shephard popularity over time
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1952–2025
- Peak year (2025)
- 16
- Annual births at peak, across 74 years of records
Shephard by decade
2020s is the heaviest window (54 births, 64% of the file).
2020s was Shephard's strongest decade.
54 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 64% of all-time use.
Shephard births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1950s 5
1950s
5 births
- 2000s 6
2000s
6 births
- 2010s 19
2010s
19 births
- 2020s
2020s
54 births
What this shows Peak: 2020s at 54 births (64% of all-time use).
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Shephard
Nearby Names Like Shephard
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Shephard
Compare Shephard side by side: Shephard vs Sherman Shephard vs Sheldon Shephard vs Shelby
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Shephard
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Shephard: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~2025)
Similar record span (~73 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1952–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Shephard draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.