Recorded 1882–2025 · United States
Shelly was most popular in 1964, when 4,127 American babies were given the name — ranking #195 that year. In 2025 it ranked #9,947, with 21 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 86,610 people named Shelly.
Shelly first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1882, which makes it about 143 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 132 of the 144 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 86,610 American births named Shelly 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 78,181 are estimated to be alive today.
21 American babies were named Shelly in 2025, ranking #9,947 that year.
Shelly is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 26 births a year, against 48 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -46% 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 Shelly is a girl’s name — 97.5% of the 86,610 Americans given it were girls and 2.5% were boys. It changed hands: since 1937 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 78,181 Americans named Shelly are alive today — 90% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 57 years old, and half are between 50 and 63.
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 Shelly on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org