Recorded 1950–2025 · United States
Shea was most popular in 2005, when 531 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,009 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,645, with 312 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 21,102 people named Shea.
Shea first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1950, which makes it about 75 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 75 of the 76 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 21,102 American births named Shea between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 20,520 are estimated to be alive today.
312 American babies were named Shea in 2025, ranking #1,645 that year.
Shea is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 355 births a year, against 305 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +16% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Shea is a unisex name — 59.5% of the 21,102 Americans given it were girls and 40.5% were boys. It changed hands: since 1988 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 64% girls and 36% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 20,520 Americans named Shea are alive today — 97% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 27 years old, and half are between 16 and 39.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Shea on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org