Shelah
Feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "request", "petition", or "prayer".
Name Census estimates that about 407 living Americans carry the first name Shelah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shelah today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shelah births was 1974 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shelah. 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 Shelah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
407
~ 1 in 842,148 Americans
Peak year
1974
15 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2008 SSA rank
#20,027
Tracked since 1935
Census
Shelah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 547 people with the first name Shelah, which placed it at #19,370 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
#19,370
National first-name rank
People counted
547
547 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shelah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelah is White at 63.8%. The next largest groups are Black (21.8%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Shelah 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 Shelah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.8% · 349
- Black or African American21.8% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 28
- Two or more races4.9% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Shelah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shelah from the 1930s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 107 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
Shelah 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 Shelah 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 Shelah
The name Shelah is of ancient Hebrew origin, with its roots tracing back to the Old Testament era. It is derived from the Hebrew word "shalah," which means "to send" or "to release." The name carries a sense of being dispatched or set free, often interpreted as a symbolic representation of a journey or a mission.
In the biblical context, Shelah is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as one of the sons of Judah and the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite woman. This reference places the name's usage in the ancient Middle Eastern region, where the Hebrew culture flourished. The name's appearance in the Old Testament suggests its antiquity and deep-rooted connection to the Abrahamic faiths.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Shelah was a biblical figure mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4:21-23. This Shelah was said to be a descendant of Judah and the father of several children, including the residents of Netaim and Gederah.
Throughout history, the name Shelah has been associated with various notable figures. In the 2nd century AD, Shelah ben Admon was a renowned Talmudic scholar and a member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme rabbinical court in ancient Judea. His teachings and insights on Jewish law and tradition have been preserved in the Talmud.
Another significant figure was Rabbi Shelah HaKadosh, a prominent 16th-century Kabbalist and mystic from Tzfat, Galilee. He authored the influential work "Shelah HaKadosh," which delved into Jewish mysticism and ethical teachings. His contributions to the Kabbalistic tradition earned him a revered place in Jewish spiritual literature.
In the realm of literature, Shelah was the name of a character in the epic poem "Paradise Lost" by John Milton, published in 1667. The name was used to represent one of the sons of Judah, reflecting the biblical reference.
Additionally, Shelah was the name of an ancient town mentioned in the Book of Samuel, located in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. This geographical reference further underscores the name's deep roots in the ancient Near Eastern region.
While the name Shelah has its origins in the Hebrew tradition, it has also been adopted across various cultures and languages over time, albeit with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its core meaning and historical significance remain tied to its ancient Semitic roots.
People
Shelah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shelah 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
Shelah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shelah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 407 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shelah 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 842,148 US residents.
Is Shelah a common name?
We classify Shelah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% 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 Shelah most popular?
The single biggest year for Shelah was 1974, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shelah is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shelah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 547 people with the name Shelah, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,370 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 Shelah 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 Shelah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shelah leans strongly female. 530 people counted with this name were female (96.4%), compared with 20 male bearers (3.6%). 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 Shelah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelah is White at 63.8%. The next largest groups are Black (21.8%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Shelah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shelah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.8% (349 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 Shelah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shelah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shelah 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 Shelah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shelah 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 Shelah 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 Americans are named Shelah?
See how many Americans are named Shelah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.