Shey
A diminutive form of the Hebrew name Shoshana, meaning "rose" or "lily".
Name Census estimates that about 271 living Americans carry the first name Shey. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 52.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Shey today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shey births was 1991 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shey. 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 Shey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
271
~ 1 in 1,264,776 Americans
Peak year
1991
25 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,606
Tracked since 1971
Census
Shey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 569 people with the first name Shey, which placed it at #18,829 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
#18,829
National first-name rank
People counted
569
569 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shey is White at 64.3%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Shey 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 Shey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.3% · 366
- Black or African American11.8% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 55
- Two or more races7.4% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.6% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Shey
Shey is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 281 total registrations, 146 (52.0%) were male and 135 (48.0%) were female.
Shey as a male name
- Ranked #10,606 in 2021
- 7 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1991 (14 births)
Shey as a female name
- Ranked #16,815 in 2006
- 6 female births in 2006
- Peak: 1995 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shey on both sides of the split. Of the 559 people counted with this name, 241 were male (43.1%) and 318 were female (56.9%).
Popularity
Shey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shey from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 104 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shey 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 Shey 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 Shey
The name Shey has its origins in the Gaelic language, which was spoken by the ancient Celts who inhabited parts of Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Derived from the Old Irish word "sídhe," which referred to the fairy-like beings of Celtic folklore, the name Shey was initially used as a descriptive term for someone with otherworldly or enchanting qualities.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Shey dates back to the 6th century, when it appeared in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle that documented events in medieval Ireland. In these annals, Shey is mentioned as the name of a renowned bard and storyteller, who was celebrated for his ability to weave captivating tales of the mystical Tuatha Dé Danann, the supernatural race of beings in Irish mythology.
During the Middle Ages, the name Shey gained popularity among the Gaelic-speaking populations of Ireland and Scotland. It was particularly favored by families with strong ties to the ancient Celtic traditions and folklore. Notable historical figures who bore the name Shey include Shey O'Donnell (c. 1450-1504), a powerful chieftain and leader of the O'Donnell clan in Ulster, and Shey MacLeod (c. 1570-1640), a renowned Scottish warrior and poet from the Isle of Skye.
As the centuries passed, the name Shey transcended its geographical origins and found its way into various cultures and languages. In the 17th century, Shey Paton (1605-1678), a Scottish minister and theologian, played a significant role in shaping the intellectual and religious landscape of his time. A few hundred years later, Shey Fennell (1892-1968), an Irish actor and playwright, gained acclaim for his contributions to the theatrical arts.
Another notable figure bearing the name Shey was Shey Sexton (1919-2009), an American jazz saxophonist and composer who left an indelible mark on the world of music. His innovative style and collaborations with legendary musicians such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie cemented his place in the annals of jazz history.
While the name Shey has retained its Celtic roots and associations with the mystical realms of Irish and Scottish folklore, it has also been embraced by diverse cultures around the world, each adding their own unique interpretations and meanings to this ancient and intriguing name.
People
Shey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shey 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
Shey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shey 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 1,264,776 US residents.
Is Shey a common name?
We classify Shey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 281 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shey most popular?
The single biggest year for Shey was 1991, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shey is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 569 people with the name Shey, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,829 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 Shey 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 Shey?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shey on both sides of the split. Of the 559 people counted with this name, 241 were male (43.1%) and 318 were female (56.9%). 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 Shey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shey is White at 64.3%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Shey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.3% (366 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 Shey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shey a male name?
Yes, 52.0% of people registered as Shey in the SSA data are male. 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 Shey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shey 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 Shey 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 Americans are named Shey?
See how many Americans are named Shey on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.