unisex name
Shiloh
SHY-loh
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 27,644
the United States
#278
2025 births
Shiloh is a unisex name of Hebrew origin taken from a place rather than a word, the sanctuary town where the Israelites kept the Ark of the Covenant. The familiar gloss "peaceful" comes from a much-argued line in Genesis, not from a settled translation, and scholars still disagree about what it meant.
- Shiloh is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 2,318 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,430 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1969.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Shiloh over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1960s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 12 |
| 1970s | 1,077 |
| 1980s | 1,026 |
| 1990s | 1,470 |
| 2000s | 3,070 |
| 2010s | 7,414 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 10,462 |
What Shiloh means
Shiloh is usually given as "peaceful" or "place of rest", though that reading rests on interpretation rather than on a plain translation. The name is first a location: a hill town in the territory of Ephraim that served as Israel's religious center before Jerusalem.
Where Shiloh comes from
Shiloh appears in the Hebrew Bible as a settlement, not a personal name. It was where the Tabernacle stood for generations before the Ark was captured and the site abandoned, which is why later writers use it as shorthand for a holy place that did not last. The sense of peace attached to it through Genesis 49:10, a famously obscure verse whose Hebrew has been read at least four different ways, one of which treats Shiloh as a title rather than a place. American usage owes at least as much to the 1862 battle in Tennessee, named for a church that in turn was named for the biblical site, and the name spread through the South afterwards as both a boy's and a girl's name.
Shiloh in use
Shiloh charts in only four of the seven countries we track, which makes it markedly more American than its biblical origins suggest.
How popular is Shiloh?
In 2025, Shiloh was given to 2,318 babies in the United States, ranking #278 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Shiloh 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 Shiloh
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Shiloh also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Shiloh over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Shiloh
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Shiloh 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 Shiloh
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Shiloh — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Shiloh
What does the name Shiloh mean?
Shiloh is usually translated as peaceful or place of rest, but it began as the name of a town rather than as a word, and the peaceful reading comes from a disputed verse in Genesis.
Is Shiloh a boy's or a girl's name?
Both. It is given to boys and girls in similar numbers and is one of the more genuinely balanced unisex names in current use.
Where does the name Shiloh come from in the Bible?
Shiloh was the town in Ephraim where the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant stood before the rise of Jerusalem.
How popular is the name Shiloh?
In 2025, Shiloh was given to 2,318 babies in the United States, ranking #278 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Shiloh?
Shiloh has 2 syllables.
When was Shiloh most popular?
Shiloh peaked in 2025, when 2,318 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Shiloh?
Shiloh is usually shortened to Shy and Lo.
Is Shiloh a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Shiloh currently ranks #278 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.