How Many People Are Named Shley?
An estimated 120 people in the United States have the first name Shley. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 40 years old, and Shley peaked in popularity in 1987 with 26 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Shley as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, state-by-state birth registrations, and, when available, a 2020 Census snapshot showing who had the name at that point in time. You can also check how many people share the full name Shley paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
120
About 1 in 2,856,286 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
100.0% confidence
Average Age
40
years old
Peak Year
1987
26 births
Total Registered
127
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Shley
Shley is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 127 total births registered, 100.0% were female.
Shley as a female name
Ranked #14,933 in 1990
5 female births in 1990
Peak: 1987 (26 births)
Shley: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Shley span from the 1980s to the 1990s, covering 2 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1980s, when 122 babies were registered. Shley has declined significantly from its peak in the 1980s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Shley by Decade
How has Shley 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.
Shley by State
Shley + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Shley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Shley
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Shley: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shley?
We estimate approximately 120 people named Shley 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 2,856,286 Americans share this first name.
Is Shley a common name?
Shley is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 67.2% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 127 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Shley most popular?
Shley reached peak popularity in 1987, when 26 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Shley is approximately 40 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The popularity chart tracks birth registrations, not people currently alive. It shows how often Shley was given to babies from 1880 through 2024, which is why it is the best tool on the page for seeing long-run naming trends.
Is Shley a female name?
Shley is predominantly female. 100.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
Why can Shley have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because a name can build up a large population over many decades. Shley peaked in 1987, and the average living bearer is about 40 years old, so a name can still have millions of living bearers even after it stops feeling current for newborns.
How many Shley Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Shley Smith, Shley Johnson, Shley 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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