How Many People Are Named Sheldon Cooper?
There are approximately 23 people named Sheldon Cooper living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 14,902,363 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Sheldon with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Cooper. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.
Estimated People with This Name
23
1 in 14,902,363 Americans
Combination Rarity
Rare
First Name
View full profileSheldon
Last Name
View full profileCooper
Sheldon: Popularity Over Time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Sheldon. The peak year was 1992 with 624 births. The average person named Sheldon today is 48 years old.
Ancestry of the First Name Sheldon
In the 2020 Census, the first name Sheldon was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (58.42%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (28.37%) and Asian and Pacific Islander (3.93%).
These percentages describe the people who had the first name Sheldon in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.
Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Sheldon rose or fell over time.
Ancestry of the Cooper Surname
The surname Cooper was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.
This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Cooper in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.
How we calculated this
The first name "Sheldon" has an estimated frequency of < 0.0001% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.
The surname "Cooper" appears at a rate of 90.82 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Sheldon are likely to be alive now.
Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 23 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Sheldon
Other people with the surname Cooper
Sheldon Cooper: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Sheldon Cooper?
We estimate approximately 23 people named Sheldon Cooper are alive in the United States today. The first name Sheldon is shared by 25,424 Americans, and the surname Cooper is shared by 311,282.
How rare is the name Sheldon Cooper?
This name combination is classified as Rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 14,902,363 Americans. The first name Sheldon is uncommon and the surname Cooper is common.
Is Sheldon a male or female name?
Sheldon is predominantly male, with 98.7% of bearers being male and 1.3% female. It peaked in popularity in 1992 and the average bearer today is 48 years old.
What does the Census say about the first name Sheldon?
In the 2020 Census, the first name Sheldon was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (58.42%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (28.37%) and Asian and Pacific Islander (3.93%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.
Where does this data come from?
First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.
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