Girls' name · peaked in 1963
Sheila name popularity since 1925
238,379 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Sheila. Half of them were born in 1960 or earlier, so the typical Sheila is about 66 years old in 2026. Sheila peaked in 1963 as the #50 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 238,379
- Named Sheila, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,686 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 237,731 girls · 648 boys
- Most popular in
- District of Columbia
- 2.14× its national share
Peak year is the year Sheila 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.
Sheila births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1962. Measured as a share of all babies, Sheila peaked in 1963.
- Fastest rise: Between 1930 and 1935, Sheila became 4.2× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1973 and 1978, its share of baby girls fell by 55%, from 1 in 486 to 1 in 1,080.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Sheila's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Sheila.
Decade by decade
Babies named Sheila 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 | 1,231 | 5 | – |
| 1930s | 10,958 | 50 | #151 |
| 1940s | 35,740 | 90 | #89 |
| 1950s | 70,174 | 155 | #57 |
| 1960s | 74,078 | 211 | #50 |
| 1970s | 26,509 | 93 | #134 |
| 1980s | 9,541 | 44 | #251 |
| 1990s | 4,646 | 0 | #583 |
| 2000s | 2,868 | 0 | #1,018 |
| 2010s | 1,349 | 0 | #1,708 |
| 2020–25 | 637 | 0 | #2,686 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
55.3% of babies named Sheila from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Sheila is most popular
The index compares Sheila'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 Sheila.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 2.14× | 2,341 |
| North Dakota | 1.69× | 1,264 |
| Vermont | 1.61× | 640 |
| Massachusetts | 1.56× | 8,799 |
| Maine | 1.53× | 1,550 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Sheila and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Sheila (this page) | 237,731 | 1963 |
| Shelia | 47,702 | 1962 |
| Sheyla | 4,241 | 2006 |
| Sheilah | 2,280 | 1955 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Sheila's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Sheila.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Sheila (1963).
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