Shelia
A feminine name of Celtic origin meaning "from the fairy isle".
Name Census estimates that about 36,426 living Americans carry the first name Shelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shelia today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shelia births was 1959 (2,293 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shelia. 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
- • Although Shelia is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 111 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Shelia have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
36K
~ 1 in 9,410 Americans
Peak year
1959
2,293 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1971 SSA rank
#4,319
Tracked since 1915
Census
Shelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 33,327 people with the first name Shelia, which placed it at #1,183 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
#1,183
National first-name rank
People counted
33K
33,327 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
11.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelia is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Black (40.0%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Shelia 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 Shelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.8% · 18,254
- Black or African American40.0% · 13,331
- Two or more races2.6% · 857
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 473
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 311
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 101
Gender
Gender distribution for Shelia
Out of the 47,891 babies given the name Shelia 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.
Shelia as a male name
- Ranked #4,319 in 1971
- 7 male births in 1971
- Peak: 1965 (11 births)
Shelia as a female name
- Ranked #13,258 in 2023
- 7 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1959 (2,283 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 33,324 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Shelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shelia from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 18,503 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
Shelia 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 Shelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shelias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. North Carolina, Texas, Alabama recorded the most babies named Shelia, while Utah, Nevada, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,094 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shelia
The name Shelia is of English origin and is believed to have emerged in the late 19th century as a variant spelling of the more traditional name Sheila. The name Sheila itself is derived from the ancient Celtic word "sile," meaning a blind or defective person. This seemingly negative connotation may have arisen from the belief that those with physical impairments were blessed with inner vision or spiritual insight.
In the early 20th century, the name Shelia gained popularity as a distinct name, perhaps due to its more modern and unique spelling. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shelia can be found in the 1901 census records of England and Wales, where a handful of individuals were listed with this spelling.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Shelia was Shelia Gillies (1894-1979), a Scottish writer and poet who was celebrated for her works in the Scots language. Her collection of poems, "The Twisting Trail," published in 1923, received critical acclaim and helped to preserve the rich literary traditions of Scotland.
Another prominent individual with the name Shelia was Shelia Hancock (1933-present), a British actress and author. She is best known for her roles in numerous television series and films, including her BAFTA-winning performance in the 1983 film "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life." Hancock has also authored several memoirs and novels, showcasing her versatility as a storyteller.
In the field of sports, Shelia Mulkey (1943-present) made her mark as a professional golfer on the LPGA Tour. Hailing from the United States, Mulkey won four tournaments during her career and was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of her achievements.
Shelia Centilie (1909-1985) was an American artist and illustrator whose works captured the essence of everyday life in the mid-20th century. Her illustrations graced the pages of numerous magazines and publications, and her paintings are held in the collections of several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Finally, Shelia Bryson (1945-present) is a notable figure in the field of education. She served as the Chancellor of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore from 1984 to 2000, becoming the first African American woman to hold that position. Her leadership and commitment to diversity and inclusiveness left a lasting impact on the university and the community it serves.
People
Shelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shelia 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
Shelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 36,426 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shelia 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 9,410 US residents.
Is Shelia a common name?
We classify Shelia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 47,891 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Shelia was 1959, when 2,293 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shelia is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 33,327 people with the name Shelia, or 11.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,183 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 Shelia 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 Shelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 33,324 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Shelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelia is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Black (40.0%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Shelia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.8% (18,254 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 Shelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shelia a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Shelia 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 Shelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shelia 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 Shelia 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 Shelia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.