Mostly girls · peaked in 2005
Shea name popularity since 1925
21,102 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Shea (59.5% girls, 40.5% boys). Half of them were born in 1998 or earlier, so the typical Shea is about 28 years old in 2026. Shea peaked in 2005 as the #764 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 21,102
- Named Shea, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,159 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 59.5% girls
- 12,565 girls · 8,537 boys
- Most popular in
- Massachusetts
- 2.56× its national share
Peak year is the year Shea made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Shea births per year, 1925–2025
2005 was the biggest year for Shea both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1983 and 1988, Shea became 2× more common, from 1 in 14,000 baby girls to 1 in 7,040.
- Steepest fall: Between 2005 and 2010, its share of baby girls fell by 41%, from 1 in 5,310 to 1 in 8,930.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Shea's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Shea.
Decade by decade
Babies named Shea in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 64 | 25 | #4,680 |
| 1960s | 292 | 193 | #2,735 |
| 1970s | 1,277 | 902 | #1,025 |
| 1980s | 1,832 | 1,929 | #844 |
| 1990s | 2,747 | 1,758 | #774 |
| 2000s | 3,056 | 1,802 | #764 |
| 2010s | 1,954 | 1,179 | #1,278 |
| 2020–25 | 1,343 | 749 | #1,159 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
34.0% of babies named Shea from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Z years (1997–2012). The full split by generation:
Where Shea is most popular
The index compares Shea's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Shea.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 2.56× | 892 |
| Arizona | 2.52× | 478 |
| Colorado | 2.09× | 378 |
| New Jersey | 1.76× | 710 |
| New York | 1.66× | 1,844 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Shea's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Shea.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Shea (2005).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data