How Many People Are Named Shelly?
An estimated 73,059 people in the United States have the first name Shelly. It is predominantly female (97.5%). The average bearer is 55 years old, and Shelly peaked in popularity in 1964 with 4,128 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Shelly 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 Shelly paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Shelly has undergone a significant gender shift. Originally given predominantly to boys, it is now more commonly a girls' name.
- While Shelly is overwhelmingly female, 2,190 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Shelly has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
73,059
About 1 in 4,691 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
97.5% confidence
Average Age
55
years old
Peak Year
1964
4,128 births
Total Registered
86,588
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Shelly
Shelly is predominantly female (97.5%), though 2,190 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Shelly as a male name
Ranked #14,072 in 2007
5 male births in 2007
Peak: 1950 (55 births)
Shelly as a female name
Ranked #4,633 in 2024
30 female births in 2024
Peak: 1964 (4,081 births)
Shelly: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Shelly span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 36,026 babies were registered. Shelly has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Shelly by Decade
How has Shelly 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.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 20 | 20 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 54 | 54 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 50 | 50 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 131 | 126 | 5 | |
| 1920s | 288 | 241 | 47 | |
| 1930s | 437 | 243 | 194 | |
| 1940s | 1,063 | 315 | 748 | |
| 1950s | 9,154 | 358 | 8,796 | |
| 1960s | 36,026 | 365 | 35,661 | |
| 1970s | 25,823 | 290 | 25,533 | |
| 1980s | 9,182 | 84 | 9,098 | |
| 1990s | 2,765 | 34 | 2,731 | |
| 2000s | 1,039 | 10 | 1,029 | |
| 2010s | 423 | 0 | 423 | |
| 2020s | 133 | 0 | 133 | |
Shelly by State
Birth registrations for Shelly span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Michigan. The lowest are in Rhode Island, Alaska, Delaware. On average, about 1,607 Shellys were registered per state.
Shelly + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Shelly as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Shelly
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Shelly: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shelly?
We estimate approximately 73,059 people named Shelly 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 4,691 Americans share this first name.
Is Shelly a common name?
Shelly is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.3% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 86,588 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Shelly most popular?
Shelly reached peak popularity in 1964, when 4,128 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Shelly is approximately 55 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Shelly a female name?
Shelly is predominantly female. 97.5% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Shelly Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Shelly Smith, Shelly Johnson, Shelly 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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