How Many People Are Named Shepherd?
An estimated 6,111 people in the United States have the first name Shepherd. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 9 years old, and Shepherd peaked in popularity in 2024 with 1,104 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Shepherd 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 Shepherd paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Shepherd is a modern name. With an average bearer age of just 9, it has gained most of its popularity in recent years.
Estimated Living Americans
6,111
About 1 in 56,088 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
99.7% confidence
Average Age
9
years old
Peak Year
2024
1,104 births
Total Registered
6,392
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Shepherd
Shepherd is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 6,392 total births registered, 99.7% were male.
Shepherd as a male name
Ranked #311 in 2024
1,094 male births in 2024
Peak: 2024 (1,094 births)
Shepherd as a female name
Ranked #10,135 in 2024
10 female births in 2024
Peak: 2024 (10 births)
Shepherd: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Shepherd span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 13 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2020s, when 3,538 babies were registered. Shepherd remains highly popular today, with recent registration numbers near its historical peak.
Shepherd by Decade
How has Shepherd 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.
Shepherd by State
Birth registrations for Shepherd span all 39 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee. The lowest are in New Hampshire, North Dakota, Connecticut. On average, about 129 Shepherds were registered per state.
Shepherd + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Shepherd as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Shepherd
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Shepherd: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shepherd?
We estimate approximately 6,111 people named Shepherd 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 56,088 Americans share this first name.
Is Shepherd a common name?
Shepherd is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 6,392 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Shepherd most popular?
Shepherd reached peak popularity in 2024, when 1,104 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Shepherd is approximately 9 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Shepherd a male name?
Shepherd is predominantly male. 99.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Shepherd Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Shepherd Smith, Shepherd Johnson, Shepherd 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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