Shelly

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Shelly: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Shelly: Recorded since 1973, it reached #326 in 1997, and it stood at #4,634 in 2021.

3registrars recorded it
36times a registrar ranked it
49years from first to last
#326highest recorded position
12groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2021

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1222
1997	#983
1998	#1122
1999	#1160
2000	#3247
2001	#1520
2002	#1784
2003	#1996
2004	#2112
2005	#1796
2006	#2320
2007	#2410
2008	#5545
2009	#5556
2010	#5707
2011	#4764
2012	#5876
2013	#5742
2015	#5730
2016	#5785
2018	#3985
2020	#5493
2021	#4634

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 12 of the 44 years from 1973 to 2016.

In 2016: #868 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #5785 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1973–2021 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1973
First recorded at #508 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1973 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1973–2016
Highest recorded position: #326 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 1997 (recorded 1973–2016).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2021
Most recently recorded at #4634 among girls in England and Wales, in 2021.
England and Wales · Girls

Shelly appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 23 ranked years and 182 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1973.

Shelly across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Shelly's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#508 (1973)	#326 (1997)	#868 (2016)	12 of 44	44 (1973–2016)	9 (1997)
England and Wales · Girls	#1222 (1996)	#983 (1997)	#4634 (2021)	23 of 26	182 (1996–2021)	21 (1997)

Shelly by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Shelly in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	71	4 of 10	18
2000sbusiest	80	10 of 10	8
2010s	24	7 of 10	3
2020s	7	2 of 10	4

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 8 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Shelly appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1973 to 2021. Highest recorded position: #326 in Republic of Ireland in 1997.

Shelly's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2021	England and Wales	female	#4634	4	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#5493	3	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#3985	5	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#5785	3	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#5730	3	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#5742	3	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#5876	3	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#4764	4	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#5707	3	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#5556	3	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#5545	3	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#2410	9	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#2320	9	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#1796	12	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#2112	9	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#1996	9	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#1784	10	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#1520	12	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3247	4	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#1160	17	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#1122	18	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#983	21	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#1222	15	High	Verified
2001	Northern Ireland	female	#343	3	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#868	3	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	female	#655	3	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	female	#536	3	High	Verified
1999	Republic of Ireland	female	#439	4	High	Verified
1998	Republic of Ireland	female	#498	3	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	female	#326	9	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	female	#516	3	High	Verified
1991	Republic of Ireland	female	#515	3	High	Verified
1987	Republic of Ireland	female	#446	4	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	female	#523	3	High	Verified
1981	Republic of Ireland	female	#533	3	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	female	#508	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1973 and 2021, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #326, first reached in 1997.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 21 births, registered in England and Wales in 1997.

Its record falls into 8 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 7 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 28 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Sheldon · #402, 29y
Shelley · #37, 53y
Shenaya · #3549, 10y
Sher · #2419, 20y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Diya · #326, 30y
Sammy · #326, 31y
Keir · #327, 29y
Andris · #328, 25y

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1970 and 1979.

Jefferson · #326, 28y
Rabia · #326, 44y
Amar · #327, 42y
Ena · #328, 29y

Shelly was ranked #326 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 1997. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Shelly and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Shelly without appearing here.

Shelly moved ahead of

Kristy Compare
In 2017 they stood at #5876 and #3285 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #3985 and #5666.
Cooper Compare
In 2020 they stood at #5493 and #5493 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #4634 and #5581.
Denise Compare
In 2020 they stood at #5493 and #4535 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #4634 and #5581.
Kirsten Compare
In 2020 they stood at #3985 and #1977 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #4634 and #5581.

Moved ahead of Shelly

Diane Compare
In 2007 they stood at #2410 and #2627 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2008 that had become #5545 and #2022.
Karin Compare
In 2007 they stood at #2410 and #5201 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2008 that had become #5545 and #2150.
Teddy Compare
In 2012 they stood at #1784 and #4137 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #5742 and #2460.
Eabha Compare
In 2008 they stood at #2320 and #5061 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #5556 and #2326.

Moved the opposite way to Shelly

Abigail Compare
Between 1973 and 2016 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Shelly went from #508 to #868 while Abigail went from #374 to #52.
Alexandra Compare
Between 1973 and 2016 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Shelly went from #508 to #868 while Alexandra went from #271 to #91.
Alice Compare
Between 1973 and 2016 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Shelly went from #508 to #868 while Alice went from #140 to #34.
Amy Compare
Between 1973 and 2016 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Shelly went from #508 to #868 while Amy went from #218 to #45.

Moved the same way as Shelly

Audrey Compare
Between 1973 and 2016 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Shelly went from #508 to #868 and Audrey from #47 to #476.
Eileen Compare
Between 1973 and 2016 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Shelly went from #508 to #868 and Eileen from #46 to #448.
Margaret Compare
Between 1973 and 2016 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Shelly went from #508 to #868 and Margaret from #3 to #176.
Maria Compare
Between 1973 and 2016 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Shelly went from #508 to #868 and Maria from #30 to #55.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1973 to 2021. Highest recorded position: #326 in Republic of Ireland in 1997. Source data last verified 2026-07-22.

Shelly

Shelly at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Shelly across 2 official records

Shelly by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Shelly appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Shelly

Shelly and the names beside it

Shelly moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Shelly

Moved the opposite way to Shelly

Moved the same way as Shelly

Shelly at a glance

Shelly across 2 official records

Shelly by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Shelly appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Shelly

Shelly and the names beside it

Shelly moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Shelly

Moved the opposite way to Shelly

Moved the same way as Shelly