Unisex — 10% boys#282 of girl names
Shelby
Pronounced SH EH1 L B IY0 (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 1991
- 112 years in use
How popular is Shelby?
Shelby is a name given to both boys and girls, and first appears in 1913. It has been given to 164,786 children — the 282nd most common girls' name on record.
It is falling away, down 64% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1991, when 10,220 children were given it.
Roughly 10% of children named Shelby are boys, so the split is a real one rather than a rounding error.
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- SH EH1 L B IY0
- Stress pattern:
- 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Shelby
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Shelby
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Shelby?
- Shelby ranks 282nd among girls' names in US records, with 164,786 births since 1913. Over the past decade it accounts for 6,830.
- Is Shelby a unisex name?
- Yes. About 10% of children given the name are boys, which is a genuine split rather than a rounding error.
- When was Shelby most popular?
- 1991, when 10,220 children were given the name. It has been in use for 112 years and is still recorded as of 2024.