Recorded 1892–2025 · United States
Shelley was most popular in 1964, when 2,845 American babies were given the name — ranking #265 that year. In 2025 it ranked #13,540, with 13 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 74,339 people named Shelley.
Shelley first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1892, which makes it about 133 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 130 of the 134 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 74,339 American births named Shelley 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 64,892 are estimated to be alive today.
13 American babies were named Shelley in 2025, ranking #13,540 that year.
Shelley is too rare for a direction to mean much. It averaged 10 births a year across 2021–2025 against 19 a year a decade earlier — at these counts a single baby moves the percentage, and any year under five births is withheld at source.
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 Shelley is a girl’s name — 97.6% of the 74,339 Americans given it were girls and 2.4% were boys. It changed hands: since 1931 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% 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 64,892 Americans named Shelley are alive today — 87% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 59 years old, and half are between 52 and 67.
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 Shelley on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org