# Shea (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/shea/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ʃeɪ/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 21,102 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 8,537 / 12,565 (60% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,578, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Anglicised from Irish Ó Séaghdha.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 172 | 1,347 |
| 2012 | 171 | 1,373 |
| 2013 | 197 | 1,226 |
| 2014 | 206 | 1,192 |
| 2015 | 191 | 1,278 |
| 2016 | 234 | 1,101 |
| 2017 | 184 | 1,286 |
| 2018 | 195 | 1,213 |
| 2019 | 205 | 1,167 |
| 2020 | 207 | 1,148 |
| 2021 | 242 | 1,044 |
| 2022 | 245 | 1,046 |
| 2023 | 247 | 1,030 |
| 2024 | 201 | 1,190 |
| 2025 | 201 | 1,159 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 148 | 1,197 |
| 2012 | 127 | 1,345 |
| 2013 | 105 | 1,535 |
| 2014 | 106 | 1,524 |
| 2015 | 100 | 1,611 |
| 2016 | 102 | 1,602 |
| 2017 | 127 | 1,392 |
| 2018 | 117 | 1,488 |
| 2019 | 124 | 1,418 |
| 2020 | 112 | 1,510 |
| 2021 | 138 | 1,347 |
| 2022 | 124 | 1,465 |
| 2023 | 144 | 1,325 |
| 2024 | 120 | 1,498 |
| 2025 | 111 | 1,552 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 5 | 3,667 |
| 2008 | 5 | 3,860 |
| 2009 | 11 | 2,148 |
| 2010 | 4 | 4,688 |
| 2012 | 5 | 4,171 |
| 2013 | 6 | 3,536 |
| 2015 | 7 | 3,252 |
| 2016 | 6 | 3,609 |
| 2017 | 4 | 4,763 |
| 2018 | 8 | 2,901 |
| 2019 | 4 | 4,686 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,645 |
| 2023 | 3 | 5,687 |
| 2024 | 8 | 3,015 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 50 | 652 |
| 2012 | 46 | 719 |
| 2013 | 48 | 684 |
| 2014 | 31 | 935 |
| 2015 | 35 | 873 |
| 2016 | 38 | 833 |
| 2017 | 37 | 848 |
| 2018 | 36 | 851 |
| 2019 | 20 | 1,253 |
| 2020 | 22 | 1,192 |
| 2021 | 29 | 1,004 |
| 2022 | 24 | 1,143 |
| 2023 | 19 | 1,363 |
| 2024 | 20 | 1,322 |
| 2025 | 24 | 1,197 |

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.