How Many People Are Named Sheppard?
An estimated 517 people in the United States have the first name Sheppard. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 25 years old, and Sheppard peaked in popularity in 2023 with 38 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sheppard 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 Sheppard paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
517
About 1 in 662,968 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
25
years old
Peak Year
2023
38 births
Total Registered
676
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sheppard
Sheppard is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 676 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Sheppard as a male name
Ranked #3,374 in 2024
35 male births in 2024
Peak: 2023 (38 births)
Sheppard: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sheppard span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 13 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 164 babies were registered. Sheppard remains highly popular today, with recent registration numbers near its historical peak.
Sheppard by Decade
How has Sheppard 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.
Sheppard by State
Birth registrations for Sheppard span all 3 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, North Carolina, New York. The lowest are in New York, North Carolina, Texas. On average, about 12 Sheppards were registered per state.
Sheppard + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sheppard as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sheppard
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sheppard: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sheppard?
We estimate approximately 517 people named Sheppard 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 662,968 Americans share this first name.
Is Sheppard a common name?
Sheppard is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 84.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 676 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sheppard most popular?
Sheppard reached peak popularity in 2023, when 38 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sheppard is approximately 25 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sheppard a male name?
Sheppard is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sheppard Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sheppard Smith, Sheppard Johnson, Sheppard 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.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me