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
Along the way
  1. 1913
    First appearance
    #3,187 among girls, 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 it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1968
    Shelby Lynne born
    American singer-songwriter
  4. 1991
    Peak, #33
    10,220 babies named Shelby — more than any year before or since.
  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.