Deborah Shelton
There are approximately 167 people named Deborah Shelton living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 2,052,421 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Deborah with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Shelton. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
167
1 in 2,052,421
Named Deborah
545K
Alive today
Named Shelton
105K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 545K
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1954
Average age: 66
Estimated bearers: 105K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #344
Per 100K: 30.69
Top ancestry: White (73.5%)
First name trend
Deborah: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Deborah. The peak year was 1954 with 54,755 births. The average person named Deborah today is 66 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Shelton surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Shelton, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 73.5%.
- White73.5%
- Black or African American20.6%
- Two or more races2.5%
- Hispanic or Latino2.2%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Deborah has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1590% of the US population, based on 544,971 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Shelton appears at a rate of 30.69 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0307%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 167 people with the full name Deborah Shelton. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Deborah
Related
Other people with the surname Shelton
FAQ
Deborah Shelton: questions and answers
How many people are named Deborah Shelton?
We estimate approximately 167 people in the United States share the full name Deborah Shelton. That works out to about 1 in 2,052,421 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1590%) with the surname frequency (30.69 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Deborah Shelton?
We classify Deborah Shelton as "Very Rare". About 1 in 2,052,421 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Deborah a male or female name?
Deborah is predominantly female. Out of 744,162 total SSA registrations, 0.2% were male and 99.8% were female. See the full Deborah profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.