# Shelby (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/shelby/  
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 | girls |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “dweller of the willow place”, “willow”, “sallow”, “settlement”, “farm” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈʃɛlbi/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 165,279 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 16,449 / 148,830 (90% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,294, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From a medieval name, of obscure origin, yet likely an alteration of Middle English Selby, Salibi (“dweller of the willow place”), from salwe (“willow, sallow”) + -by (“settlement, farm”).

## 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 | 1,462 | 217 |
| 2012 | 1,447 | 220 |
| 2013 | 1,239 | 261 |
| 2014 | 1,114 | 294 |
| 2015 | 1,080 | 300 |
| 2016 | 986 | 337 |
| 2017 | 836 | 373 |
| 2018 | 738 | 425 |
| 2019 | 634 | 495 |
| 2020 | 606 | 501 |
| 2021 | 556 | 550 |
| 2022 | 503 | 596 |
| 2023 | 448 | 657 |
| 2024 | 446 | 658 |
| 2025 | 444 | 649 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 44 | 2,736 |
| 2012 | 46 | 2,671 |
| 2013 | 47 | 2,592 |
| 2014 | 35 | 3,209 |
| 2015 | 32 | 3,501 |
| 2016 | 39 | 3,051 |
| 2017 | 34 | 3,368 |
| 2018 | 29 | 3,777 |
| 2019 | 29 | 3,785 |
| 2020 | 49 | 2,612 |
| 2021 | 35 | 3,352 |
| 2022 | 41 | 3,047 |
| 2023 | 49 | 2,686 |
| 2024 | 51 | 2,628 |
| 2025 | 41 | 3,032 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 68 | 594 |
| 2012 | 76 | 556 |
| 2013 | 70 | 584 |
| 2014 | 59 | 668 |
| 2015 | 52 | 745 |
| 2016 | 60 | 684 |
| 2017 | 51 | 771 |
| 2018 | 77 | 540 |
| 2019 | 92 | 458 |
| 2020 | 82 | 494 |
| 2021 | 80 | 513 |
| 2022 | 61 | 624 |
| 2023 | 57 | 637 |
| 2024 | 53 | 708 |
| 2025 | 40 | 872 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3 | 2,901 |
| 2008 | 5 | 3,158 |
| 2009 | 5 | 3,227 |
| 2011 | 3 | 4,647 |
| 2014 | 4 | 3,895 |
| 2016 | 4 | 4,023 |
| 2017 | 7 | 2,734 |
| 2018 | 9 | 2,259 |
| 2019 | 10 | 2,104 |
| 2020 | 13 | 1,723 |
| 2021 | 10 | 2,125 |
| 2022 | 14 | 1,692 |
| 2023 | 11 | 2,007 |
| 2024 | 8 | 2,671 |
| 2025 | 8 | 2,664 |

## People named Shelby

- Shelby Rogers, American tennis player
- Shelby Lynne, American singer-songwriter
- Shelby McEwen, American high jumper
- Shelby Young, American actress
- Shelby Houlihan, American middle- and long-distance runner
- Shelby Foote, American novelist, historian (1916-2005)
- Shelby Moore Cullom, American politician (1829-1914)
- Shelby Rabara, American actress
- Shelby Miller, American baseball player
- Shelby Chong, American actress

## 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.