Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Shem?
Births per year, rank history and how many Shems are alive today.
Shem (male) last appeared in the England and Wales name records in 2023 (ranked 4992nd); fewer than three babies a year have been given the name since. The name peaked in 1998, when 10 babies were given the name, the 1263rd most popular that year. It was almost as popular in 2015, with 9 babies given the name that year.
The Shem you are most likely to meet is around 29 years old - or else around 11: the name has two living generations. Half of all Shems born in England and Wales are between 11 and 29, and there are at least 140 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's less than a 1% chance that anyone will be called Shem - on average, only one in every 2,165 such rooms contains a Shem.
How many babies are named Shem each year?
Where does Shem rank among boys' 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 Shem most popular?
Shem peaked in 1998, when 10 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Shem?
At least 140 people named Shem born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Shem?
Most living Shems are between 11 and 29; the most common age is about 29. There is a second cluster around 11.
Is Shem becoming more or less popular?
It has faded from the rankings.