Shelba
An English feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from a surname.
Name Census estimates that about 882 living Americans carry the first name Shelba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shelba today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shelba births was 1937 (349 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shelba. 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
- • The typical person named Shelba is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Shelbas were born before 1959.
People living today
882
~ 1 in 388,610 Americans
Peak year
1937
349 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1937 SSA rank
#3,939
Tracked since 1935
Census
Shelba in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,408 people with the first name Shelba, which placed it at #9,739 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
#9,739
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,408 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shelba
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelba is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Black (7.0%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Shelba 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 Shelba at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.9% · 1,252
- Black or African American7.0% · 98
- Two or more races2.3% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Shelba
Out of the 2,141 babies given the name Shelba since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Shelba as a male name
- Ranked #3,939 in 1937
- 5 male births in 1937
- Peak: 1937 (5 births)
Shelba as a female name
- Ranked #9,050 in 1982
- 7 female births in 1982
- Peak: 1937 (344 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shelba appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,406 people counted with this name, 99.0% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Shelba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shelba from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 975 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shelba 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 Shelba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shelbas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. North Carolina, Georgia, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Shelba, while Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 73 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shelba
The name Shelba is believed to have originated in the ancient Germanic language family, with roots dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the Old High German words "scelb" and "scalp," which both refer to a type of shield or defensive armor used by warriors and knights. Over time, this name evolved into various forms, including Shelba, Shelbo, and Scelbald.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shelba can be found in the Frankish Chronicles, a historical record of the Merovingian dynasty in the 6th century. The name appears in reference to a warrior named Shelba the Formidable, who was known for his skill in battle and his unwavering loyalty to King Clovis I.
In the 9th century, a monk named Shelba of Fulda was renowned for his scholarly works and contributions to the preservation of ancient manuscripts. He was a prominent figure in the Carolingian Renaissance and is credited with establishing a renowned library and scribal workshop at the Monastery of Fulda.
During the Middle Ages, the name Shelba gained popularity among nobility and royalty. One notable figure was Lady Shelba of Gloucester, who lived in the 12th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the court of King Henry II of England.
In the 15th century, a Spanish explorer named Shelba de Soto gained recognition for his expeditions to the Americas. He was among the first Europeans to explore the interior regions of what is now the southeastern United States and is remembered for his encounters with various Native American tribes.
Another historical figure bearing the name Shelba was a 17th-century Dutch painter named Shelba van Rijn. She was known for her intricate still-life paintings and was a contemporary of the renowned artist Rembrandt van Rijn, although their relationship remains unclear.
While the name Shelba has become less common in modern times, it remains a unique and intriguing choice with a rich historical background rooted in ancient Germanic culture and medieval European history.
People
Shelba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shelba 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
Shelba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shelba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 882 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shelba 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 388,610 US residents.
Is Shelba a common name?
We classify Shelba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,141 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shelba most popular?
The single biggest year for Shelba was 1937, when 349 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shelba is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shelba in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,408 people with the name Shelba, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,739 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 Shelba 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 Shelba?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shelba appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,406 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Shelba?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelba is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Black (7.0%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Shelba most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shelba in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (1,252 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 Shelba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shelba a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Shelba 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 Shelba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shelba 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 Shelba 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 have the name Shelba?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Shelba, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.