Shelisha
A feminine name derived from Hebrew, meaning "princess" or "triumphant".
Name Census estimates that about 62 living Americans carry the first name Shelisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shelisha today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shelisha births was 1989 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shelisha. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shelisha. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
62
~ 1 in 5,528,296 Americans
Peak year
1989
9 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1993 SSA rank
#15,425
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Shelisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shelisha from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 36 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Shelisha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shelisha 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 Shelisha 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 Shelisha
Shelisha is a name of Hebrew origin, derived from the Hebrew word "Shalom," meaning peace or completeness. The name is believed to have first appeared in ancient Israel during the biblical era, around the 8th to 6th century BCE.
The earliest recorded mention of the name Shelisha can be found in the Book of Chronicles, a historical record of the ancient Israelites. In this text, Shelisha is listed as a town or settlement in the territory of Judah. While this reference is not directly connected to the name's usage as a personal name, it suggests that the name was in circulation during that time period.
One of the earliest known individuals bearing the name Shelisha was a Jewish scholar who lived in the 5th century CE. He is mentioned in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism, as a disciple of the renowned Rabbi Yochanan. Unfortunately, little else is known about this historical figure.
In the 11th century, a Jewish philosopher and theologian named Shelisha ben Almalam was active in Spain during the Golden Age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula. He is known for his writings on Jewish philosophy and his contributions to the study of Kabbalah, the mystical teachings of Judaism.
Another notable figure with the name Shelisha was Shelisha ben Isaac, a 13th-century Jewish scholar and poet from Spain. He was a contemporary of the famous Jewish philosopher and poet, Judah Halevi, and is remembered for his poetic works and commentaries on Jewish texts.
In the 16th century, a Jewish mystic and Kabbalist named Shelisha Shlomo ben Hayyim Vital lived in Safed, a city in present-day Israel that was a center of Jewish mysticism during the Renaissance. He was a disciple of the renowned Kabbalist, Isaac Luria, and is known for his writings on Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.
It is worth noting that while the name Shelisha has its roots in Hebrew and Jewish culture, it has also been adopted and used in other cultures and communities over the centuries. However, due to its historical and cultural significance, the name remains closely associated with its Hebrew origins and the rich traditions of the Jewish people.
People
Shelisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shelisha 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
Shelisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shelisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 62 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shelisha 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 5,528,296 US residents.
Is Shelisha a common name?
We classify Shelisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 66 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shelisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Shelisha was 1989, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shelisha is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Shelisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shelisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shelisha 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 Shelisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shelisha 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 Shelisha 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Shelisha?
You can see how many Americans are named Shelisha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.