Shellene
A feminine name potentially derived from the word "shell", implying protection.
Name Census estimates that about 245 living Americans carry the first name Shellene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shellene today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shellene births was 1970 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shellene. 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
245
~ 1 in 1,398,997 Americans
Peak year
1970
22 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1984 SSA rank
#8,031
Tracked since 1949
Census
Shellene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 317 people with the first name Shellene, which placed it at #28,376 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
#28,376
National first-name rank
People counted
317
317 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shellene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shellene is White at 66.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Shellene 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 Shellene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.2% · 210
- Black or African American22.1% · 70
- Two or more races5.4% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Popularity
Shellene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shellene from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 117 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Shellene remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shellene 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 Shellene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shellene
The name Shellene is believed to have its origins in the Greek language, derived from the word "shelios," which means "radiant" or "shining." This name first emerged during the Hellenistic period, which spanned from the 4th century BC to the 1st century BC.
Shellene was a relatively uncommon name in ancient Greece, but it did appear in a few historical records and texts from that time. One of the earliest known mentions of this name can be found in the writings of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who referenced a woman named Shellene in one of his works on ethics.
As the Hellenistic culture spread across the Mediterranean region, the name Shellene gradually gained popularity in various parts of the ancient world. It was particularly favored among the Greek communities in Asia Minor and Egypt, where it was sometimes spelled as "Selene" or "Selenē," which was the name of the Greek goddess of the moon.
During the Byzantine era, which lasted from the 4th century AD to the 15th century AD, the name Shellene continued to be used, albeit with varying spellings and pronunciations. One notable figure from this period was Shellene of Constantinople, a noblewoman and philanthropist who lived in the 9th century AD and was renowned for her charitable works and patronage of the arts.
In the Middle Ages, the name Shellene found its way into various European regions, particularly in the areas influenced by the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church. One example is Shellene of Kyiv, a princess of the Kyivan Rus' who lived in the 11th century AD and played a significant role in the Christianization of the region.
Throughout the Renaissance and early modern periods, Shellene remained a relatively uncommon name, but it was still used in certain parts of Europe, particularly in areas with strong Greek cultural influences or connections to the Eastern Orthodox tradition. One notable figure from this time was Shellene Mavrokordatos, a Greek noblewoman and poet who lived in the 17th century AD and was celebrated for her literary works.
In more recent centuries, the name Shellene has experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in English-speaking countries. While it is still considered a relatively rare name, it has been adopted by various families and individuals, often as a nod to its Greek heritage and the meaning of "radiance" or "shining."
People
Shellene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shellene 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
Shellene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shellene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 245 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shellene 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 1,398,997 US residents.
Is Shellene a common name?
We classify Shellene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 290 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shellene most popular?
The single biggest year for Shellene was 1970, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shellene is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shellene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 317 people with the name Shellene, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,376 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 Shellene 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 Shellene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shellene appears almost entirely female. Of the 308 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 Shellene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shellene is White at 66.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.1%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Shellene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shellene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.2% (210 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 Shellene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shellene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shellene 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 Shellene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shellene 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 Shellene 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 are named Shellene?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.