# Sheldon (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/sheldon/  
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 |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “shelf”, “hill”, “valley” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈʃɛldən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Shelley, Shel |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 37,172 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 36,676 / 496 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 632, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English scylf (“shelf”) + dūn (“hill”) or denu (“valley”).

## What it means

Sheldon is grouped under mountain.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 13 | 6,225 |
| 1989 | 11 | 7,382 |
| 1990 | 15 | 6,095 |
| 1991 | 16 | 5,910 |
| 1992 | 16 | 5,961 |
| 1993 | 11 | 7,967 |
| 1994 | 24 | 4,358 |
| 1995 | 20 | 4,994 |
| 1996 | 18 | 5,495 |
| 1997 | 14 | 6,788 |
| 1998 | 15 | 6,668 |
| 1999 | 9 | 10,213 |
| 2000 | 8 | 11,630 |
| 2001 | 10 | 9,995 |
| 2002 | 8 | 12,032 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 176 | 1,069 |
| 2012 | 216 | 945 |
| 2013 | 180 | 1,055 |
| 2014 | 166 | 1,145 |
| 2015 | 140 | 1,281 |
| 2016 | 131 | 1,364 |
| 2017 | 134 | 1,339 |
| 2018 | 126 | 1,399 |
| 2019 | 110 | 1,541 |
| 2020 | 79 | 1,891 |
| 2021 | 72 | 2,054 |
| 2022 | 68 | 2,164 |
| 2023 | 60 | 2,339 |
| 2024 | 81 | 1,953 |
| 2025 | 46 | 2,788 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 6 | 2,350 |
| 1997 | 7 | 2,152 |
| 1998 | 7 | 2,165 |
| 1999 | 6 | 2,444 |
| 2000 | 6 | 2,416 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3,998 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14 | 1,600 |
| 2012 | 28 | 998 |
| 2013 | 24 | 1,086 |
| 2014 | 10 | 2,079 |
| 2015 | 11 | 2,020 |
| 2016 | 14 | 1,704 |
| 2017 | 11 | 2,052 |
| 2018 | 10 | 2,112 |
| 2019 | 9 | 2,266 |
| 2020 | 6 | 2,960 |
| 2021 | 7 | 2,730 |
| 2022 | 9 | 2,320 |
| 2023 | 4 | 4,107 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,119 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,275 |

## People named Sheldon

- Sheldon Glashow, American theoretical physicist
- Sheldon Adelson, American businessman (1933–2021)
- Sheldon Whitehouse, American lawyer and politician (born 1955)
- Sheldon Riley, Australian singer (1999-)
- Sheldon Leonard, American actor, producer, director, and writer (1907–1997)
- Sheldon Lewis, American actor (1868–1958)
- Sheldon Brown, American cyclist, writer and mechanic (1944–2008)
- Sheldon Lettich, American film director, producer and screenwriter
- Sheldon Harnick, American lyricist and songwriter (1924–2023)
- Sheldon Brookbank, Canadian ice hockey player
- Sheldon Souray, Canadian ice hockey player
- Sheldon Allman, American-Canadian actor, singer and songwriter (1924-2002)

## 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.