Shelagh
A feminine name of Irish Gaelic origin meaning "one's view" or "perspective".
Name Census estimates that about 412 living Americans carry the first name Shelagh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shelagh today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shelagh births was 1950 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shelagh. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Shelagh with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
412
~ 1 in 831,928 Americans
Peak year
1950
22 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1999 SSA rank
#16,522
Tracked since 1942
Census
Shelagh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 747 people with the first name Shelagh, which placed it at #15,407 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,407
National first-name rank
People counted
747
747 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shelagh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelagh is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and Black (2.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Shelagh described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Shelagh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.4% · 698
- Two or more races2.5% · 19
- Black or African American2.4% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Shelagh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shelagh from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 178 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shelagh 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 Shelagh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shelaghs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shelagh
The name Shelagh has its origins in the Gaelic language, specifically the Irish and Scottish Gaelic dialects. It is a variant spelling of the name Sheila, which derives from the Old Irish name Síle. Síle itself is a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, which was a Roman family name.
In its earliest recorded uses, Shelagh was found in medieval Irish and Scottish records, often associated with nobility or prominent families. The name gained popularity in Scotland during the Middle Ages and was frequently used among the Scottish clans.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Shelagh was Shelagh of Angus, a 12th-century Scottish noblewoman who was the wife of Gillebride, Earl of Angus. She played a significant role in the political landscape of medieval Scotland.
Another historical figure bearing the name was Shelagh Quhiting, a 15th-century Scottish woman who was accused of witchcraft during the Scottish witch trials. Her trial records provide insight into the persecution of alleged witches during that time period.
In the 16th century, Shelagh Muir was a prominent Scottish Protestant reformer who advocated for the translation of the Bible into the Scots language. She was a contemporary of John Knox and played a role in the Scottish Reformation.
Moving forward in time, Shelagh Delaney was a 20th-century English playwright and screenwriter, best known for her 1958 play "A Taste of Honey." She was born in 1939 and her work explored themes of working-class life and social issues.
Shelagh Rogers is a contemporary Canadian broadcaster and author, known for her work on CBC Radio. She has hosted various programs and has published several books, including memoirs and works of non-fiction.
While the name Shelagh has historical roots in the Gaelic-speaking regions of Ireland and Scotland, it has since been adopted and used in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. However, its origins can be traced back to the Celtic languages and the rich cultural heritage of the British Isles.
People
Shelagh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shelagh 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
Shelagh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shelagh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 412 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shelagh 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 831,928 US residents.
Is Shelagh a common name?
We classify Shelagh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 510 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shelagh most popular?
The single biggest year for Shelagh was 1950, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shelagh is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shelagh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 747 people with the name Shelagh, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,407 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Shelagh in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Shelagh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shelagh appears almost entirely female. Of the 752 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Shelagh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelagh is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and Black (2.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Shelagh most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shelagh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (698 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Shelagh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shelagh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shelagh 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.
Is Shelagh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shelagh in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Shelagh can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Shelagh?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.