Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Shelby?
Births per year, rank history and how many Shelbies are alive today.
Shelby (female) is an uncommon girls' name in England and Wales, ranked 872nd in 2025 with 40 babies given the name. The name peaked in 1997, when 309 babies were given the name, the 151st most popular that year. It has declined since 1997; the 2025 figure is roughly 13% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years.
The Shelby you are most likely to meet is around 29 years old. Half of all Shelbies born in England and Wales are between 17 and 32, and there are at least 4,500 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 1.4% chance that at least one of them will be called Shelby.
How many babies are named Shelby each year?
Where does Shelby 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 Shelby most popular?
Shelby peaked in 1997, when 309 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Shelby?
At least 4,500 people named Shelby born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Shelby?
Most living Shelbies are between 17 and 32; the most common age is about 29.
Is Shelby becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1997 peak.