How Many People Are Named Shepard?
An estimated 3,095 people in the United States have the first name Shepard. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 14 years old, and Shepard peaked in popularity in 2022 with 253 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Shepard 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 Shepard paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Shepard is a modern name. With an average bearer age of just 14, it has gained most of its popularity in recent years.
Estimated Living Americans
3,095
About 1 in 110,745 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
99.9% confidence
Average Age
14
years old
Peak Year
2022
253 births
Total Registered
3,450
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Shepard
Shepard is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 3,450 total births registered, 99.9% were male.
Shepard as a male name
Ranked #940 in 2024
244 male births in 2024
Peak: 2022 (253 births)
Shepard as a female name
Ranked #18,877 in 2013
5 female births in 2013
Peak: 2013 (5 births)
Shepard: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Shepard span from the 1910s to the 2020s, covering 12 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 1,281 babies were registered. Shepard remains highly popular today, with recent registration numbers near its historical peak.
Shepard by Decade
How has Shepard 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.
Shepard by State
Birth registrations for Shepard span all 30 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, Tennessee. The lowest are in Nebraska, Massachusetts, Arizona. On average, about 59 Shepards were registered per state.
Shepard + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Shepard as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Shepard
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Shepard: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shepard?
We estimate approximately 3,095 people named Shepard 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 110,745 Americans share this first name.
Is Shepard a common name?
Shepard is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 95.3% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 3,450 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Shepard most popular?
Shepard reached peak popularity in 2022, when 253 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Shepard is approximately 14 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Shepard a male name?
Shepard is predominantly male. 99.9% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Shepard Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Shepard Smith, Shepard Johnson, Shepard 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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