Girls' name · peaked in 1972

Shelley name popularity since 1925

73,896 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Shelley (98.1% girls, 1.9% boys). Half of them were born in 1966 or earlier, so the typical Shelley is about 60 years old in 2026. Shelley peaked in 1972 as the #126 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.

US babies since 1925: 73,896; Named Shelley, 1925–2025
Peak year: 1972; #126 for girls that year
Typical age: About 60; Median birth year 1966
In 2025: Not top 1,000; #8,280 for girls in 2025
Girls / boys: 98.1% girls; 72,499 girls · 1,397 boys
Most popular in: Montana; 2.39× its national share

Peak year is the year Shelley 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.

Shelley births per year, 1925–2025

The biggest year by count was 1964. Measured as a share of all babies, Shelley peaked in 1972.

Fastest rise: Between 1947 and 1952, Shelley became 8.2× more common, from 1 in 8,090 baby girls to 1 in 983.
Steepest fall: Between 1986 and 1991, its share of baby girls fell by 58%, from 1 in 3,050 to 1 in 7,300.

Shaded on the chart. Both compare Shelley's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Shelley.

Decade by decade

Babies named Shelley 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	56	92	–
1930s	363	172	#1,070
1940s	2,473	236	#562
1950s	18,226	308	#192
1960s	24,856	233	#148
1970s	17,283	236	#171
1980s	6,814	84	#395
1990s	1,757	31	#1,138
2000s	431	5	#3,863
2010s	174	0	#8,877
2020–25	66	0	#8,280

Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.

Generation fingerprint

44.5% of babies named Shelley from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:

Where Shelley is most popular

The index compares Shelley'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 Shelley.

State	Index	Babies
Montana	2.39×	495
Oregon	2.17×	1,437
Washington	1.90×	2,243
Idaho	1.76×	497
Iowa	1.74×	1,561

Other spellings

Spellings that sound like Shelley 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
Shelley (this page)	72,499	1972
Shelly	84,392	1966
Shellie	9,570	1970
Shelli	6,983	1968

Names with a similar story

Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Shelley's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Shelley.

Names from the same era

Other common names that peaked within two years of Shelley (1972).

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