Shea
Feminine
Shea is given to both — 12,565 girls and 8,537 boys since 1880. See Shea as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Shea comes off an Irish surname — Ó Séaghdha, a family long rooted in County Kerry — and arrived in American use the way many Irish surnames did, carried over by families and then handed forward as a first name. It is one syllable, ends in the open sound of "day" and "bay", and needs no shortening. It has held a quiet, unbroken place in American records for generations without ever crowding a classroom.
How old is the name Shea?
Shea first appears in US birth records in 1950 — 75 years ago. The typical Shea alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 12,500 people named Shea are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shea most popular?
Shea peaked in 1997, reaching #698 nationally. Today it ranks #1150, 452 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Shea appears on these lists:
- Borrowed from the boys: names girls are winning
- Irish names beyond St. Patrick's Day
- Names ending in -ea
- all guides
Works in Irish families too:
Where it comes from
From Séaghdha to Shea
The story of Shea
The name begins as Séaghdha, an Irish personal name that became the basis of the surname Ó Séaghdha, associated with Kerry in the southwest of Ireland. Anglicized as O'Shea and Shea, it crossed the Atlantic with Irish emigration in the nineteenth century and settled thickly in the cities of the Northeast, where it is still strongest as a given name. Like Kelly, Casey and Riley, it made the move from surname to first name in American use, and it made that move for boys and girls alike — one name traveling two roads rather than two names meeting at a spelling.
Meaningscholars disagree
From an Irish word read as either "hawk-like" or "stately, fine"
The root is the Old Irish personal name Séaghdha. Two readings compete among Irish name scholars: one takes it as "hawk-like", the other as "stately", "fine" or "goodly". Neither has won, and the surname Ó Séaghdha — anglicized O'Shea — carries both.
How the name formed
- Séaghdha
- Ó Séaghdha
- O'Shea
- Shea
Related forms: Séaghdha · Shay · Shae · Shaye · O'Shea
Pronouncing Shea
SHAY
One syllable, rhyming with "day". Because the spelling ends in -ea, first-time readers sometimes try SHEE-uh; a single correction usually settles it.
Nicknames for Shea
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1950
- Most girls named
- 2004329 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #698reached in 1997
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%201 in 2025, from 201
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Shea in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Séaghdha in Irish — same name
- Shay in English — spelling variant
- Shae in English — spelling variant
- Shaye in English — spelling variant
- O'Shea in Irish (surname form) — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey.
Sheas among us
people named Shea are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 7,996 born in 2025 was named Shea
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Starla test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Shea's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Starla climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Starla's path sketches the road Shea is walking now.
Shea sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Shea is headed
Shea should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Shea beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Shea in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, already as short as it goes — there is no nickname to negotiate and no long form to grow into.
- A documented Irish surname line behind it, traceable back through O'Shea to the Old Irish name Séaghdha.
- Familiar to American ears without being common; it has appeared in the records continuously for generations.
- Strongest in the Northeast, where Irish surnames as first names are long-established and read easily.
- Works for a girl or a boy from the same root, so the spelling needs no adjustment either way.
- The spelling is the main friction. Shay, Shae and Shaye all sound identical, so expect to spell it aloud fairly often — and expect the occasional SHEE-uh from someone reading it cold.
- "Shea butter," from the West African shea tree, is the other place most Americans have met these four letters, and it is often said SHEE. It is a mild, passing association rather than a real obstacle.
- Because it is given to girls and boys in roughly comparable numbers, a name-only document — a class list, an email address — will not signal one or the other. Some families like that; it is worth knowing in advance.
- It is rare enough that a Shea will likely be the only one anywhere nearby, which means introductions carry a little more explaining and a little less competition.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Shea to the vote.
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What they receive
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Shea
Feminine · #1150 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sheas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,500 people named Shea are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shea in 2025?
- Shea ranks #1150 among US girl names in 2025, with 201 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Shea?
- About 1 in every 7,996 US girls born in 2025 was named Shea — 201 in all.
- Will my child share the name Shea with classmates?
- Shea will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Shea
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dariana#1150 · Jaycee#1150 · Amyra#1150 · Adela#1150 · Sally#1150 · Kimora#1150 · Amariah#1150 · Kathleen#1150
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shea? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Shea and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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