Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Sheila?
Births per year, rank history and how many Sheilas are alive today.
Sheila (female), once a common girls' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 5 in 2024, ranked 4193rd. The name peaked in 1934, when around 8,800 babies were given the name, the 6th most popular that year. It has declined since 1934; the 2024 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 14,000 babies have been named Sheila in England and Wales since 1924. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
The Sheila you are most likely to meet is around 90 years old. Half of all Sheilas born in England and Wales are between 75 and 90, and there are at least 74,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 21% chance that at least one of them will be called Sheila.
How many babies are named Sheila each year?
Where does Sheila rank among girls' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Sheila most popular?
Sheila peaked in 1934, when around 8,800 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Sheila?
At least 74,000 people named Sheila born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Sheila?
Most living Sheilas are between 75 and 90; the most common age is about 90.
Is Sheila becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1934 peak.