Shelby

Where Shelby comes from

From a medieval name, of obscure origin, yet likely an alteration of Middle English Selby, Salibi (“dweller of the willow place”), from salwe (“willow, sallow”) + -by (“settlement, farm”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Shelby
  • From a surname
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Shelby through the years
  1. 1913
    First appearance
    #3,187 among girls with 5 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1936
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name. From this year on, more girls have.
  3. 1968
    Shelby Lynne born
    American singer-songwriter
  4. 1991
    Peak, #33
    10,220 babies named Shelby, the most in any year.
  5. 1992
    Shelby Rogers born
    American tennis player
  6. 1999
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #62.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
  • A female given name transferred from the surname.
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Shelby Rogers · American tennis player, born 1992
  • Shelby Lynne · American singer-songwriter, born 1968
  • Shelby McEwen · American high jumper, born 1996
  • Shelby Young · American actress, born 1992
  • Shelby Foote · American novelist, historian, 1916–2005

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.