Shaylon
A variant spelling of the Scottish name Sheilah, meaning "heaven" or "heavenly".
Name Census estimates that about 245 living Americans carry the first name Shaylon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Shaylon today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaylon births was 1990 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaylon. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
245
~ 1 in 1,398,997 Americans
Peak year
1990
18 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2012 SSA rank
#13,896
Tracked since 1979
Gender
Gender distribution for Shaylon
Shaylon is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 253 total registrations, 87 (34.4%) were male and 166 (65.6%) were female.
Shaylon as a male name
- Ranked #13,896 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 1990 (10 births)
Shaylon as a female name
- Ranked #19,417 in 2010
- 5 female births in 2010
- Peak: 2001 (15 births)
Popularity
Shaylon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaylon from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 94 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaylon by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Shaylon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaylon
The name Shaylon is believed to have originated from the ancient Sumerian language, which was spoken in the region of Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, around 3500 BC to 3000 BC. The name is derived from the Sumerian words "sha" meaning "to shine" and "lon" meaning "radiance" or "brilliance".
In the early days of Sumerian civilization, the name Shaylon was likely associated with the worship of celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars. The Sumerians were known for their advanced knowledge of astronomy and their reverence for celestial objects.
One of the earliest known references to the name Shaylon can be found in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest surviving works of literature. In this epic, Shaylon is mentioned as the name of a minor deity or spirit associated with the sun and its radiant energy.
Throughout the centuries, the name Shaylon has been carried by various individuals, both historical and mythological. One noteworthy figure was Shaylon of Nineveh, a Mesopotamian scholar and astronomer who lived in the 7th century BC. He is credited with making significant contributions to the study of celestial movements and the development of early calendars.
In the realm of mythology, Shaylon was also the name of a legendary warrior in ancient Persian folklore. According to the tales, Shaylon was a brave and valiant hero who fought against the forces of darkness and was revered for his unwavering courage and radiant spirit.
Another notable figure bearing the name Shaylon was a 12th-century Sufi mystic and poet from Persia. Although little is known about his life, his poetic works were greatly admired for their depth and spiritual insights, often using symbolic references to light and radiance.
During the Renaissance period, there was a Renaissance humanist scholar named Shaylon di Verona, born in 1438 in Verona, Italy. He was known for his translations of ancient Greek and Latin texts, as well as his contributions to the study of philosophy and the arts.
In more recent times, the name Shaylon has been carried by individuals from various cultures and backgrounds, though its use has been relatively uncommon. One example is Shaylon Tozer, a British artist and sculptor who lived from 1909 to 1995, known for her abstract and modernist works.
People
Shaylon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaylon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shaylon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaylon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 245 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaylon going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,398,997 US residents.
Is Shaylon a common name?
We classify Shaylon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 253 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaylon most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaylon was 1990, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaylon is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shaylon a female name?
Yes, 65.6% of people registered as Shaylon in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.