Shailee
Feminine name of Indian origin referring to the moon or moonlight.
Name Census estimates that about 491 living Americans carry the first name Shailee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shailee today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shailee births was 2000 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shailee. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Shailee with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
491
~ 1 in 698,074 Americans
Peak year
2000
30 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,231
Tracked since 1990
Census
Shailee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 534 people with the first name Shailee, which placed it at #19,684 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
#19,684
National first-name rank
People counted
534
534 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shailee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shailee is White at 47.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (33.5%) and Hispanic (8.2%). 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 Shailee 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 Shailee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.0% · 251
- Asian and Pacific Islander33.5% · 179
- Hispanic or Latino8.2% · 44
- Two or more races7.7% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 11
- Black or African American1.5% · 8
Popularity
Shailee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shailee from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 187 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shailee 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 Shailee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shailees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shailee
The name Shailee has its roots in the Sanskrit language, originating in ancient India. It is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word "Shalya," meaning "sharp" or "pointed." In Hindu mythology, Shalya was also the name of a king known for his archery skills.
The earliest known usage of the name Shailee can be traced back to the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. In this epic, Shailee was mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandavas in the great battle of Kurukshetra.
Throughout history, the name Shailee has been associated with strength, courage, and resilience. One notable figure bearing this name was Shailee Ghatsila, a 16th-century Indian queen who ruled the Ghatsila Kingdom in present-day Jharkhand. She was known for her wise leadership and commitment to the welfare of her subjects.
Another famous bearer of the name was Shailee Gupta, a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer from the 20th century. Born in 1924, she was instrumental in reviving and popularizing the Kathak dance form, earning numerous accolades and awards for her contributions to the arts.
In more recent times, Shailee Shetty, an Indian actress and model born in 1983, has gained recognition for her work in various Bollywood films and television shows. Her portrayal of strong and independent characters has made her a role model for many young women.
Additionally, Shailee Basnet, a Nepali mountain climber born in 1991, made history as the youngest woman to summit Mount Everest in 2008 at the age of 16. Her remarkable achievement has inspired many aspiring mountaineers and adventurers around the world.
While the name Shailee has its origins in ancient India, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained popularity across various regions and communities, cherished for its beautiful sound and powerful connotations of strength and determination.
People
Shailee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shailee 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
Shailee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shailee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 491 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shailee 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 698,074 US residents.
Is Shailee a common name?
We classify Shailee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 500 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shailee most popular?
The single biggest year for Shailee was 2000, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shailee is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shailee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 534 people with the name Shailee, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,684 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 Shailee 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 Shailee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shailee appears almost entirely female. Of the 529 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Shailee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shailee is White at 47.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (33.5%) and Hispanic (8.2%). 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 Shailee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shailee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.0% (251 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 Shailee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shailee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shailee 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 Shailee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shailee 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 Shailee 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 Shailee?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Shailee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.