How Many People Are Named Shy?
An estimated 459 people in the United States have the first name Shy. It is used for both genders, with 89.2% female. The average bearer is 24 years old, and Shy peaked in popularity in 1997 with 37 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Shy 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 Shy paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
459
About 1 in 746,741 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
89.2% confidence
Average Age
24
years old
Peak Year
1997
37 births
Total Registered
471
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Shy
Shy is predominantly female (89.2%), though 51 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Shy as a male name
Ranked #12,030 in 2023
6 male births in 2023
Peak: 2022 (9 births)
Shy as a female name
Ranked #11,038 in 2023
9 female births in 2023
Peak: 1997 (32 births)
Shy: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Shy span from the 1970s to the 2020s, covering 6 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 159 babies were registered. Shy has declined significantly from its peak in the 2000s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Shy by Decade
How has Shy 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.
Shy + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Shy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Shy
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Shy: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shy?
We estimate approximately 459 people named Shy 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 746,741 Americans share this first name.
Is Shy a common name?
Shy is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 83.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 471 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Shy most popular?
Shy reached peak popularity in 1997, when 37 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Shy is approximately 24 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Shy a female name?
Shy is predominantly female. 89.2% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Shy Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Shy Smith, Shy Johnson, Shy 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