Shade
#7,591 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' nameMeaning not yet documented
Shade has been given to 2,025 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #7,591 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1997, with 33 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 57% boys, 43% girls all-time.
Babies named Shade, 2025
1 in 301,000
Shade over time, 1880–2025
Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.
Girls or boys — Shade over time
In 2025, Shade went to 35% girls and 65% boys.
A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.
How common is Shade?
Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.
- Among all babies, 2025
- 1 in 301,000
- 11 of 3,315,165 births
- Among boys only
- 1 in 155,000
- <0.01% of boys
- Rank, 2025
- #7,591
- of 13,926 boys’ names in use
- Coin-flip room size
- 208,901 kids
- Even odds of a second one
Where Shade sits on the popularity scale
Chance at least one other child shares the name
If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.
Put another way: gather 208,901 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shade. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.
When Shades were born
Half of everyone ever recorded as Shade was born before 1997 — so the typical Shade is around 28 today.
- Biggest decade
- 1990s
- 19.4% of all use
- Born in the last 25 years
- 40.8%
- Spread across generations
- Recorded since 1950
- 890
- People you could plausibly meet
1990s — 19.4% of all recorded uses (224).
Is Shade rising or falling?
Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.
- Rank vs 1 year ago
- −1,978
- Places dropped
- Rank vs 5 years ago
- −1,360
- Places dropped
- Rank vs 10 years ago
- −3,068
- Places dropped
- Births vs 10 years ago
- 0.50×
- Fewer babies than then
- Share of its own peak
- 33.3%
- Peak was 1997 (33)
- Years since peak
- 28
- Years
- Year-to-year steadiness
- Volatile
- 27.3% average annual change
Spellings of Shade
Shade is not the most common spelling — Shawn is, with 24.8% against Shade's 0.09%.
Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.
Where Shade is used — boys
Across 1910–2025, Shade was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,275,355 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).
Most concentrated
- 1California1 in —
- 2Florida1 in —
- 3Illinois1 in —
- 4Kentucky1 in —
- 5North Carolina1 in —
- 6Ohio1 in —
- 7Texas1 in —
Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Shade has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.
Where Shade is used — girls
Across 1910–2025, Shade was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 300,413 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).
Most concentrated
- 1New York1 in 100,000
- 2California1 in —
- 3Florida1 in —
- 4Illinois1 in —
- 5Maryland1 in —
- 6New Jersey1 in —
- 7Texas1 in —
Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Shade has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.
Shade around the world
Where Shade ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.
- Canada1998–2010#2,676in 2010
Popularity data from Statistics Canada. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Shade by the numbers
The raw record for each sex the name is used for.
As a boy's name
Names similar to Shade
Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.
Sibling names for Shade
Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.