# Shelly (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/shelly/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 86,610 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,190 / 84,420 (97% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 185, 1996 to 2025 |

## 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 | 39 | 3,904 |
| 2012 | 52 | 3,203 |
| 2013 | 52 | 3,161 |
| 2014 | 50 | 3,266 |
| 2015 | 45 | 3,522 |
| 2016 | 36 | 4,147 |
| 2017 | 34 | 4,296 |
| 2018 | 29 | 4,757 |
| 2019 | 29 | 4,758 |
| 2020 | 25 | 5,147 |
| 2021 | 30 | 4,594 |
| 2022 | 28 | 4,889 |
| 2023 | 20 | 6,130 |
| 2024 | 30 | 4,650 |
| 2025 | 21 | 5,884 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 9 | 4,444 |
| 1982 | 13 | 3,456 |
| 1983 | 8 | 4,849 |
| 1984 | 9 | 4,498 |
| 1985 | 6 | 6,412 |
| 1986 | 7 | 5,837 |
| 1988 | 7 | 6,319 |
| 1989 | 13 | 4,236 |
| 1990 | 8 | 6,327 |
| 1991 | 6 | 8,092 |
| 1993 | 7 | 7,498 |
| 1994 | 6 | 8,650 |
| 1996 | 7 | 7,840 |
| 2001 | 5 | 12,038 |
| 2007 | 5 | 14,072 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 12 | 1,796 |
| 2006 | 9 | 2,320 |
| 2007 | 9 | 2,410 |
| 2008 | 3 | 5,545 |
| 2009 | 3 | 5,556 |
| 2010 | 3 | 5,707 |
| 2011 | 4 | 4,764 |
| 2012 | 3 | 5,876 |
| 2013 | 3 | 5,742 |
| 2015 | 3 | 5,730 |
| 2016 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2018 | 5 | 3,985 |
| 2020 | 3 | 5,493 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,927 |

## People named Shelly

- Shelly Martinez, American professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet, model, and actress
- Shelly Cole, American actress
- Shelly Kagan, American philosopher
- Shelly Johnson, American cinematographer
- Shelly Stokes, American softball player
- Dean Malenko, American professional wrestler (born 1960)

## 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.