Shea
An English name derived from the Gaelic word for "stately" or "admirable".
Name Census estimates that about 20,081 living Americans carry the first name Shea. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 59.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Shea today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shea births was 2005 (531 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shea. 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.
Key insights
- • Shea sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
20K
~ 1 in 17,069 Americans
Peak year
2005
531 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,187
Tracked since 1950
Gender
Gender distribution for Shea
Shea is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 20,790 total registrations, 8,427 (40.5%) were male and 12,363 (59.5%) were female.
Shea as a male name
- Ranked #1,494 in 2024
- 120 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1986 (280 births)
Shea as a female name
- Ranked #1,187 in 2024
- 200 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (348 births)
Popularity
Shea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shea from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 4,858 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Shea remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shea 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 Shea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sheas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Shea, while South Dakota, Montana, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 310 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shea
The given name Shea is believed to have originated from the Irish Gaelic word "Sídhe," which refers to the mythological fairy-folk or fairies in Irish folklore. It is thought to have been derived from the Old Irish word "síd," meaning "mound" or "hill," as the fairies were believed to reside in these natural formations.
In Irish mythology, the Sídhe were a race of supernatural beings who lived in the otherworld, often described as underground fairy mounds or ancient burial sites. They were revered and sometimes feared by the Celtic people of Ireland, who believed they possessed magical powers and could influence the lives of mortals.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shea dates back to the 12th century, where it appeared in Irish annals and historical records. One of the earliest documented individuals with this name was Shea O'Donnell, a 12th-century Irish chieftain and King of Tyrconnell, a region in what is now County Donegal, Ireland.
Throughout the centuries, the name Shea has been borne by several notable figures in Irish history. One such individual was Shea O'Neill, also known as Shane O'Neill (c. 1530-1567), an Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Neill clan who led a rebellion against English rule in Ireland during the 16th century.
Another prominent figure with this name was Shea O'Hara (c. 1550-1617), an Irish poet and soldier who served under Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, during the Nine Years' War against English forces in Ireland.
In the 18th century, Shea was the first name of Shea Kearney (c. 1720-1786), an Irish harper and composer who is credited with preserving and transmitting many traditional Irish airs and tunes.
Moving into the 19th century, Shea Sargent (1811-1863) was an Irish-American writer, newspaper editor, and politician who served as the 15th Mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1856 to 1857.
While the name Shea has its roots in Irish culture and mythology, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries with Irish diaspora communities. It remains a popular given name, particularly in Ireland and among those of Irish descent.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Shea
People
Shea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shea 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
Shea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 20,081 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shea 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 17,069 US residents.
Is Shea a common name?
We classify Shea as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20,790 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shea most popular?
The single biggest year for Shea was 2005, when 531 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shea is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shea a female name?
Yes, 59.5% of people registered as Shea 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.