Shelle
She who is well-sheltered or protected.
Name Census estimates that about 475 living Americans carry the first name Shelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shelle today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shelle births was 1964 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shelle. 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
475
~ 1 in 721,588 Americans
Peak year
1964
40 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1991 SSA rank
#12,893
Tracked since 1949
Census
Shelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 580 people with the first name Shelle, which placed it at #18,544 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
#18,544
National first-name rank
People counted
580
580 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelle is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.2%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Shelle 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 Shelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.4% · 455
- Black or African American12.2% · 71
- Two or more races4.3% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Shelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shelle from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 289 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shelle 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 Shelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Shelle, while Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shelle
The name Shelle is a variant of the English name Shelley, which derives from the Old English word "scielig" meaning "scelfe" or "shelf." This term referred to a ledge or a flat rock formation, suggesting that the name may have initially been used to describe someone who lived near such geological features.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shelle can be traced back to the 12th century, where it appeared in various medieval records and manuscripts. One notable example is the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, which mentions individuals with the surname "de Scelfe."
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Shelle was primarily used as a surname, but it gradually transitioned into a given name as well. One of the earliest documented instances of Shelle as a first name is found in the records of the Benedictine Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, which mentions a nun named Shelle de Bradenham in the late 13th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Shelle gained popularity among the upper classes and literary circles. One notable bearer of the name was Shelle Sedley (1634-1701), an English playwright and courtier who was a member of the "Merry Gang" of Charles II's court.
In the 18th century, Shelle Vorontsov (1744-1832) was a prominent Russian nobleman and diplomat who served as the Governor-General of Moscow and played a significant role in the Napoleonic Wars.
Moving into the modern era, Shelle Graham (1888-1971) was an American author and journalist who wrote extensively about the American West and was known for her vivid depictions of frontier life.
Another notable figure was Shelle Plowshare (1914-1989), a British activist and pacifist who was a prominent member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and participated in numerous protests against nuclear weapons during the Cold War era.
In the world of arts and culture, Shelle Barlow (1925-2003) was an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway musicals and films, including the 1962 classic "The Music Man."
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Shelle throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human experience.
People
Shelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shelle 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
Shelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 475 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shelle 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 721,588 US residents.
Is Shelle a common name?
We classify Shelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 577 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Shelle was 1964, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shelle is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 580 people with the name Shelle, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,544 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 Shelle 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 Shelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 580 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Shelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shelle is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.2%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Shelle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.4% (455 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 Shelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shelle 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 Shelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shelle 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 Shelle 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 many people have Shelle as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Shelle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.