How Many People Are Named Shea?
An estimated 20,081 people in the United States have the first name Shea. It is used for both genders, with 59.5% female. The average bearer is 28 years old, and Shea peaked in popularity in 2005 with 531 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Shea as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Shea paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Shea is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
Estimated Living Americans
20,081
About 1 in 17,069 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
59.5% confidence
Average Age
28
years old
Peak Year
2005
531 births
Total Registered
20,790
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Shea
Shea is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (40.5%) and females (59.5%). Out of 20,790 total births registered, 8,427 were male and 12,363 were female.
Shea as a male name
Ranked #1,494 in 2024
120 male births in 2024
Peak: 1986 (280 births)
Shea as a female name
Ranked #1,187 in 2024
200 female births in 2024
Peak: 2005 (348 births)
Shea: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Shea span from the 1950s to the 2020s, covering 8 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 4,858 babies were registered. While Shea is less common than at its peak in the 2000s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Shea by Decade
How has Shea tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Shea by State
Birth registrations for Shea span all 46 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Texas. The lowest are in South Dakota, Montana, Mississippi. On average, about 310 Sheas were registered per state.
Shea + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Shea as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Shea
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Shea: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shea?
We estimate approximately 20,081 people named Shea are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 17,069 Americans share this first name.
Is Shea a common name?
Shea is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 20,790 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Shea most popular?
Shea reached peak popularity in 2005, when 531 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Shea is approximately 28 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Shea a female name?
Shea is predominantly female. 59.5% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Shea Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Shea Smith, Shea Johnson, Shea Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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