Shilynn
Shilynn is an American given name that potentially combines the names Shiloh and Lynn.
Name Census estimates that about 177 living Americans carry the first name Shilynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shilynn today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shilynn births was 2008 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shilynn. 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.
People living today
177
~ 1 in 1,936,465 Americans
Peak year
2008
20 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2019 SSA rank
#15,294
Tracked since 1993
Census
Shilynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Shilynn, which placed it at #43,340 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
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shilynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shilynn is White at 48.5%. The next largest groups are Black (16.0%) and Two or More Races (15.3%). 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 Shilynn 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 Shilynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.5% · 79
- Black or African American16.0% · 26
- Two or more races15.3% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino14.1% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native6.1% · 10
Popularity
Shilynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shilynn from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 108 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Shilynn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shilynn 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 Shilynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shilynns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shilynn
The name Shilynn is a modern English variation of the names Shelynn and Sheilynn, which are derived from the Irish name Siobhán. Siobhán is an anglicized form of the old Irish name Sibhán, which itself is a diminutive of Siobh, meaning "fairy" or "spirit" in Irish Gaelic.
This name has its roots in ancient Celtic mythology and folklore, where fairies and spirits were believed to inhabit the natural world. The name Siobhán likely originated among the Gaelic-speaking people of Ireland and Scotland during the Middle Ages, when these mythological beliefs were prevalent.
While the name Shilynn is a modern spelling variation, the earliest recorded use of the similar name Siobhán dates back to the 10th century. One of the earliest known historical figures with this name was Siobhán Nic Ghiolla Phádraig, a 16th-century Irish noblewoman and landowner.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with variations of the name Shilynn. One example is Siobhán McKenna (1923-1986), an Irish actress who gained fame for her performances in theater and film productions, including her portrayal of Greta Conroy in the 1962 film adaptation of James Joyce's novel "Ulysses".
Another prominent figure was Siobhán Ní Dhuill (1932-2019), an Irish politician and member of Sinn Féin who served in the Irish parliament from 1957 to 1981. She was also a vocal advocate for Irish language and cultural preservation.
In the field of literature, Siobhán Kilfeather (born 1960) is an Irish poet and academic who has published several collections of poetry and has taught at various universities in Ireland and the United States.
Siobhán Fahey (born 1958) is a British singer and musician, best known as the founder and lead singer of the 1980s pop group Bananarama. She had a successful career in the music industry, both as part of the group and as a solo artist.
Siobhán Byrne (born 1964) is an Irish actress who has appeared in numerous television shows and films, including roles in the popular series "The Tudors" and the films "Brooklyn" and "Intermission".
People
Shilynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shilynn 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
Shilynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shilynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 177 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shilynn 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 1,936,465 US residents.
Is Shilynn a common name?
We classify Shilynn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 180 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shilynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Shilynn was 2008, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shilynn is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shilynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Shilynn, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 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 Shilynn 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 Shilynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shilynn leans strongly female. 160 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Shilynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shilynn is White at 48.5%. The next largest groups are Black (16.0%) and Two or More Races (15.3%). 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 Shilynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shilynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.5% (79 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 Shilynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shilynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shilynn 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 Shilynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shilynn 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 Shilynn 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 common is the name Shilynn?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Shilynn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.