Shiloh
A Hebrew name meaning "tranquil" or "his gift".
Name Census estimates that about 21,852 living Americans carry the first name Shiloh. It sits at #260 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Shiloh today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shiloh births was 2024 (2,248 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shiloh. 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
- • Shiloh sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • Shiloh is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
22K
~ 1 in 15,685 Americans
Peak year
2024
2,248 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#260
Tracked since 1969
Gender
Gender distribution for Shiloh
Shiloh is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 22,186 total registrations, 8,183 (36.9%) were male and 14,003 (63.1%) were female.
Shiloh as a male name
- Ranked #336 in 2024
- 1,032 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,032 births)
Shiloh as a female name
- Ranked #260 in 2024
- 1,216 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,216 births)
Popularity
Shiloh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shiloh from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 8,122 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shiloh 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 Shiloh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shilohs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Shiloh, while North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 378 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shiloh
The name Shiloh has its origins in the Hebrew language and is deeply rooted in the biblical and religious traditions of ancient Israel. It is derived from the Hebrew word "shalom," which means "peace" or "tranquility," and the ancient city of Shiloh, which was an important religious center in the region.
According to the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible, Shiloh was a city located in the hill country of Ephraim and served as the resting place for the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred relic containing the stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. The city held great significance in the early Israelite tradition and was considered a holy site for worship and religious gatherings.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shiloh can be found in the Bible, particularly in the Book of Genesis, where it is mentioned as a messianic title. In Genesis 49:10, it is written, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shiloh. One of the earliest recorded examples is Shiloh, the son of Judah and Shua, mentioned in the Book of Genesis. Another biblical figure named Shiloh was a prophet during the time of the Judges, as mentioned in the Book of Judges.
In more recent times, Shiloh was the name of a Native American chief of the Chickasaw tribe, who lived in the early 19th century and played a significant role in the tribe's resistance against the United States government's efforts to remove them from their ancestral lands.
Another notable bearer of the name was Shiloh Pepin (1835-1891), a prominent American judge and politician who served as a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
In the realm of literature, Shiloh is the title of a novel by Bobbie Ann Mason, published in 1982, which explores the lives of a working-class family in Kentucky. The novel's title is a reference to the biblical city of Shiloh and its significance in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
The name Shiloh has also been used in various artistic and creative works, such as songs, films, and television shows, reflecting its enduring cultural significance and the fascination with its biblical origins and historical connotations.
People
Shiloh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shiloh 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
Shiloh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shiloh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21,852 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shiloh 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 15,685 US residents.
Is Shiloh a common name?
We classify Shiloh as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22,186 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shiloh most popular?
The single biggest year for Shiloh was 2024, when 2,248 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shiloh is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shiloh a female name?
Yes, 63.1% of people registered as Shiloh 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.
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.