Shay
#1,225 for girls in 2025, 184 births · #1,976 for boys in 2025, 77 births
Given to girls 62.1% of the time
- Peak · girls
- 1971 · 149 births
- Debut · girls
- 7 births
- In top 100 · girls
- neverof 146 years
- Total births · girls
- 8,227since 1953
Shay over time
Rank within each sex, plotted together. Click any year to open it.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | #1,225 | 184 | #1,976 | 77 |
| 2024 | #1,156 | 208 | #1,701 | 98 |
| 2023 | #996 | 255 | #1,787 | 90 |
| 2022 | #910 | 301 | #1,678 | 102 |
| 2021 | #901 | 300 | #1,583 | 109 |
| 2020 | #932 | 277 | #1,758 | 87 |
| 2019 | #1,180 | 199 | #1,974 | 74 |
| 2018 | #1,338 | 168 | #1,762 | 87 |
| 2017 | #1,303 | 180 | #1,977 | 72 |
| 2016 | #1,371 | 171 | #1,754 | 88 |
| 2015 | #1,372 | 172 | #2,189 | 62 |
| 2014 | #1,519 | 144 | #2,402 | 53 |
| 2013 | #1,775 | 115 | #2,364 | 53 |
| 2012 | #2,232 | 84 | #2,172 | 61 |
| 2011 | #1,943 | 102 | #1,849 | 76 |
| 2010 | #1,818 | 112 | #2,010 | 68 |
| 2009 | #1,914 | 109 | #1,762 | 86 |
| 2008 | #1,554 | 148 | #1,916 | 75 |
| 2007 | #1,713 | 127 | #1,713 | 88 |
| 2006 | #1,709 | 122 | #1,583 | 92 |
| 2005 | #1,631 | 123 | #1,554 | 90 |
| 2004 | #1,448 | 141 | #1,477 | 92 |
| 2003 | #1,486 | 131 | #1,348 | 101 |
| 2002 | #1,376 | 140 | #1,609 | 75 |
| 2001 | #1,499 | 125 | #1,816 | 61 |
| 2000 | #1,245 | 157 | #1,361 | 93 |
| 1999 | #1,164 | 167 | #1,395 | 84 |
| 1998 | #1,228 | 148 | #1,322 | 90 |
| 1997 | #1,169 | 157 | #1,182 | 101 |
| 1996 | #1,149 | 158 | #1,049 | 116 |
| 1995 | #1,100 | 161 | #978 | 129 |
| 1994 | #1,137 | 157 | #968 | 130 |
| 1993 | #1,318 | 127 | #1,029 | 115 |
| 1992 | #1,305 | 129 | #1,049 | 109 |
| 1991 | #1,375 | 117 | #833 | 154 |
| 1990 | #1,272 | 128 | #960 | 118 |
| 1989 | #1,267 | 124 | #916 | 123 |
| 1988 | #1,345 | 106 | #840 | 128 |
| 1987 | #1,240 | 114 | #914 | 106 |
| 1986 | #1,392 | 92 | #1,188 | 64 |
| 1985 | #1,382 | 93 | #1,083 | 73 |
| 1984 | #1,284 | 97 | #1,096 | 67 |
| 1983 | #1,311 | 92 | #1,205 | 57 |
| 1982 | #1,284 | 99 | #1,164 | 62 |
| 1981 | #1,155 | 116 | #1,024 | 79 |
| 1980 | #1,059 | 134 | #963 | 87 |
| 1979 | #1,377 | 89 | #952 | 86 |
| 1978 | #1,176 | 107 | #1,034 | 71 |
| 1977 | #1,621 | 65 | #975 | 77 |
| 1976 | #1,297 | 84 | #977 | 72 |
| 1975 | #1,175 | 98 | #953 | 74 |
| 1974 | #950 | 130 | #919 | 78 |
| 1973 | #1,015 | 115 | #898 | 79 |
| 1972 | #1,012 | 116 | #1,000 | 65 |
| 1971 | #889 | 149 | #1,101 | 55 |
| 1970 | #953 | 133 | #968 | 69 |
| 1969 | #1,648 | 53 | #1,280 | 38 |
| 1968 | #2,056 | 34 | #1,366 | 32 |
| 1967 | #2,272 | 28 | #2,470 | 11 |
| 1966 | #2,586 | 22 | #1,814 | 18 |
| 1965 | #2,031 | 33 | #2,982 | 8 |
| 1964 | #3,000 | 18 | #2,205 | 14 |
| 1963 | #2,306 | 27 | #2,200 | 14 |
| 1962 | #2,210 | 29 | #2,279 | 13 |
| 1961 | #2,752 | 20 | #2,070 | 16 |
| 1960 | #3,920 | 11 | #2,423 | 12 |
| 1959 | #4,300 | 9 | #3,988 | 5 |
| 1958 | #4,890 | 7 | — | |
| 1957 | #3,033 | 15 | #3,993 | 5 |
| 1956 | #5,325 | 6 | — | |
| 1955 | #5,828 | 5 | — | |
| 1954 | #5,148 | 6 | #3,827 | 5 |
| 1953 | #4,595 | 7 | — | |
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| 1932 | — | #3,776 | 5 | |
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The first year at least five girls were named Shay! It came in at #4,595, and was given to 7 baby girls.
Quietest stretch: 1953–1956, when fewer than 8 girls a year got the name.
Where Shay is popular in 2015
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- Minnesota#552 · 1 in 2,718
- Utah#626 · 1 in 2,968
- Pennsylvania#788 · 1 in 4,400
- Illinois#803 · 1 in 4,502
- Massachusetts#830 · 1 in 5,056
Best ever in a state: #97 in South Dakota, 2019.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | #552 | 9 | 1 in 2,718 |
| Utah | #626 | 6 | 1 in 2,968 |
| Pennsylvania | #788 | 12 | 1 in 4,400 |
| Illinois | #803 | 13 | 1 in 4,502 |
| Massachusetts | #830 | 5 | 1 in 5,056 |
| Arizona | #842 | 7 | 1 in 4,415 |
| Wisconsin | #848 | 5 | 1 in 4,655 |
| New Jersey | #942 | 7 | 1 in 5,309 |
| Missouri | #947 | 5 | 1 in 5,439 |
| Virginia | #1,063 | 6 | 1 in 6,247 |
| Michigan | #1,107 | 6 | 1 in 7,031 |
| Washington | #1,110 | 5 | 1 in 6,269 |
| California | #1,142 | 26 | 1 in 7,898 |
| Florida | #1,355 | 9 | 1 in 9,552 |
| New York | #1,491 | 9 | 1 in 10,147 |
| Alabama | — | — | — |
| Alaska | — | — | — |
| Arkansas | — | — | — |
| Colorado | — | — | — |
| Connecticut | — | — | — |
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| Vermont | — | — | — |
| West Virginia | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — |
Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the girls born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about Shay
- 69 spots since 2024 (#1,156 → #1,225)
- 293 spots since 2020 (#932 → #1,225)
- 147 spots since 2015 (#1,372 → #1,225)
- Biggest jump: 695 spots in 1970 (#1,648 → #953)
- Biggest drop: 225 spots in 1975 (#950 → #1,175)
- Debuted 1953
- Peaked 1971 at #889 (149 births)
- Births halved by 1977, 6 yrs later
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: never
- Top 1,000: 7 yrs · run 2020–2023
- Highest: 1 in 5,449 girls born in 2022 were named Shay (0.02%)
- Latest: 1 in 8,735 girls born in 2025 (0.01%)
- Its best rank, #889 in 1971, was only 1 in 11,167 (0.01%) — a smaller share of a much bigger birth year
- 18.5% of all girls named Shay (1,525) were born in this decade
- Mostly boys until 1991, mostly girls since
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 55 | #3,033 (1957) | #4,731 |
| 1960s | 275 | #1,648 (1969) | #2,478 |
| 1970s | 1,086 | #889 (1971) | #1,147 |
| 1980s | 1,067 | #1,059 (1980) | #1,272 |
| 1990s | 1,449 | #1,100 (1995) | #1,222 |
| 2000s | 1,323 | #1,245 (2000) | #1,558 |
| 2010s | 1,447 | #1,180 (2019) | #1,585 |
| 2020s | 1,525 | #901 (2021) | #1,020 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 girls in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Shay in 2015
Top girls' names in 2015
Top boys' names in 2015
More about 2015
girls
1,785,098 girls got a published name in 2015; 1 in 10,378 of them was named Shay, which outranked 92.8% of the 19,130 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 8.4% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).
- #1,366Kinsey173
- #1,366Sofie173
- #1,366Zoya173
- #1,372Shay172
- #1,372Calista172
- #1,372Capri172
- #1,372Farah172
- #1,382Arlene171
- #1,382Grecia171
- #1,382Priya171
Tied with 9 names at #1,372; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.
boys
1,916,743 boys got a published name in 2015; 1 in 30,915 of them was named Shay, which outranked 84.4% of the 14,059 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 8.3% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).
- #2,169Parth63
- #2,169Rhodes63
- #2,169Riyan63
- #2,189Shay62
- #2,189Ahaan62
- #2,189Alekzander62
- #2,189Arik62
- #2,212Aric61
- #2,212Arley61
- #2,212Calen61
Tied with 22 names at #2,189; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.