Shelly
A pet form of Shirley or Michelle, and separately an English surname.
Popularity, 1880–2025
Shelly first shows up in the national records in 1882. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in 5 different years between 1965 and 1972. Its biggest year was 1964, when 4,080 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 101 nationally. Its best ranking came in 1966, at No. 89. All told, 86,610 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Shelley (74,339), Shellie (10,859), Shelli (6,983), Shellee (859), Sheli (647), Sheily (645) (total births since 1880)
Other names that share a story: Michelle, Shirley
Explore Shelly interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 5 | No. 4417 |
| 1920s | 47 | No. 2699 |
| 1930s | 194 | No. 1160 |
| 1940s | 748 | No. 615 |
| 1950s | 8,795 | No. 188 |
| 1960s | 35,661 | No. 89 |
| 1970s | 25,533 | No. 94 |
| 1980s | 9,099 | No. 186 |
| 1990s | 2,732 | No. 538 |
| 2000s | 1,029 | No. 1301 |
| 2010s | 423 | No. 2976 |
| 2020s | 154 | No. 4507 |
Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
🍼 Enjoying this? Buy my baby a diaper
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.