Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Shay?
Births per year, rank history and how many Shays are alive today.
Shay (male) is an uncommon boys' name in England and Wales, ranked 529th in 2025 with 73 babies given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 2010, when 338 babies were given the name, the 164th most popular that year. It has declined since 2010; the 2025 figure is roughly 22% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 5,200 babies have been named Shay in England and Wales since 1996. Shay is one spelling of a name also recorded as Shae, Shaye and Shea; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Shay you are most likely to meet is around 20 years old. Half of all Shays born in England and Wales are between 12 and 22, and there are at least 8,300 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 2.7% chance that at least one of them will be called Shay.
How many babies are named Shay each year?
Includes all spellings: Shay, Shae, Shaye, Shea. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Shay spelling rank?
Where does the Shae spelling rank?
Where does the Shaye spelling rank?
Where does the Shea spelling rank?
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 Shay most popular?
Shay peaked in 2010, when 466 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Shay?
At least 8,300 people named Shay in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Shay?
Most living Shays are between 12 and 22; the most common age is about 20.
Is Shay becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 2010 peak.