girl's name
Shelley
SHEL-ee
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 76,167
Northern Ireland
#317
2000 births
Shelley means a clearing on a ledge, and it has nothing to do with shells — the poet's surname records a patch of high ground in Suffolk or Sussex, not anything from a beach.
- Shelley is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1964, when 2,845 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 255,037 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Shelley started out as a boys' name and is now given almost entirely to girls.
- First appears in US birth records in 1892.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Shelley over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 50 |
| 1900s | 58 |
| 1910s | 186 |
| 1920s | 297 |
| 1930s | 535 |
| 1940s | 2,709 |
| 1950s | 18,534 |
| 1960s | 25,089 |
| 1970s | 17,519 |
| 1980s | 6,898 |
| 1990s | 1,788 |
| 2000s | 436 |
| 2010s | 174 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 66 |
What Shelley means
Shelley means the clearing on a ledge, or the wood on a shelf of land. The Old English joins a word for a ledge to leah, a woodland clearing.
Where Shelley comes from
Shelley is an English place name from scelf, a shelf or ledge of land, joined to leah — a clearing in woodland, one of the most productive elements in English naming. There are Shelleys in Suffolk, Essex and Yorkshire, and Percy Bysshe Shelley's family carried the surname. The shell reading is folk etymology; the words are unrelated. Shelly, the shorter spelling, is written up separately and holds slightly more volume.
Shelley in use
Shelley peaked in the United States in 1964, when 2,845 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 8135th in the United States on 13 births, across 76,167 lifetime births. About 98 percent of recorded births are female.
How popular is Shelley?
In 2025, Shelley was given to 13 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Shelley is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Shelley
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Shelley also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Shelley over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Shelley in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Shelley
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Shelley — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Shelley
What does the name Shelley mean?
The clearing on a ledge — scelf, a shelf of land, joined to leah, a clearing.
Is Shelley about seashells?
No. That is folk etymology — the words are unrelated.
Is it Shelley or Shelly?
Both are used; Shelly holds slightly more volume in our data.
How popular is Shelley?
8135th in the United States, down from a 1964 peak of 2,845 births.
Is Shelley a girl's or a boy's name?
Shelley is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Shelley?
Shelley has 2 syllables.
Is Shelley a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Shelley currently ranks #8,135 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.
Was Shelley originally a boys' or girls' name?
Shelley was given mostly to boys in the earliest US birth records and is now given almost entirely to girls.