Name Awesome

Shay

#1,227 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Supplanter, heel-grabber, through Seamus

Shay has been given to 13,251 babies in the U.S. since 1953. In 2025 it ranked #1,227 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 301 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 62% girls, 38% boys all-time.

Babies named Shay, 2025

1 in 18,000

Shay over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Shay over time

In 2025, Shay went to 70% girls and 30% boys.

19322025

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.

Shay: meaning, origin, and history

Supplanter, heel-grabber, through Seamus

surname transfer

What Shay means

Shay belongs to the name family reached through Shay → Seamus → Séamas → James → James → Iacomus. Its meaning is “supplanter, heel-grabber”.

Origin, language, and formation

Shay is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Shay comes through Irish Ó Séaghdha.

Shay is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Seamus, Shea, Séamas, James and Iacomus.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 8,227 girls were recorded with the name Shay between 1953 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 301 in 2022; its best national rank was #894 in 1971.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #934 in 2020 to #1,227 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,379 in 2015 to #1,227 in 2025.

In the United States, 5,024 boys were recorded with the name Shay between 1932 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 154 in 1991; its best national rank was #833 in 1991.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,763 in 2020 to #1,989 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,205 in 2015 to #1,989 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Shay?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 18,000
184 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 8,730
0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,227
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
12,490 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Shay sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5003%

Put another way: gather 12,490 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shay. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shays were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shay was born before 2001 — so the typical Shay is around 24 today.

Median birth year
2001
About 24 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
18.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
50.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
8,227
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 18.5% of all recorded uses (1,525).

Is Shay 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
−68
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−293
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+152
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.07×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
61.1%
Peak was 2022 (301)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#894
1971

Spellings of Shay

Shay is not the most common spelling — Stacy is, with 23.3% against Shay's 1.2%.

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 Shay is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Shay was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 2,778 girls, against 1 in 7,107 across all states with data. It was least common in Georgia (1 in 100,000).

136 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 2,778
  2. 2Massachusetts1 in 2,857
  3. 3South Dakota1 in 3,226
  4. 4New Jersey1 in 3,333
  5. 5Wisconsin1 in 3,448
  6. 6Illinois1 in 3,704
  7. 7New York1 in 4,545
  8. 8Pennsylvania1 in 4,762

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.

Where Shay is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Shay was most concentrated in Wisconsin — about 1 in 10,000 boys, against 1 in 21,510 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in 100,000).

110 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Wisconsin1 in 10,000
  2. 2California1 in 12,500
  3. 3New York1 in 12,500
  4. 4Illinois1 in 16,667
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 16,667
  6. 6New Jersey1 in 20,000
  7. 7Iowa1 in 25,000
  8. 8Washington1 in 25,000

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.

Shay around the world

Where Shay 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.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #4,867
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2006–2024
    #790
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    2022–2022
    #905
    in 2022
  • France
    2017–2025
    #7,465
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #991
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1980–2011
    #840
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Shay

People whose public names include Shay, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Shay by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,227
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 293
Best rank ever
#894
1971
Peak year
2022
301 that year
First recorded
1953
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
8,227
Count in 2025
184

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,989
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 226
Best rank ever
#833
1991
Peak year
1991
154 that year
First recorded
1932
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5,024
Count in 2025
77

Names similar to Shay

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ShaeSharaShaniShaiSharlaShainaShanaShayeShawnShastaShaniaShaynaShakiraShariShanaeShaniceShayleeShailaShantelShaniyaShayneShanelShaunaShanna

Names with a curve like Shay

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Shay, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

AyeshaAdinaShoshanaEleniFarahKoriChanaDavinaYaelDevorahMikaTova

Sibling names for Shay

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Shay

Top names of 2022, Shay's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1971Girls' names starting with S