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Shelton

#4,836 in 2025Boys' name

Deck, shelf + town

Shelton has been given to 12,145 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #4,836 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1972, with 179 recorded.

Babies named Shelton, 2025

1 in 158,000

Shelton over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Shelton: meaning, origin, and history

Deck, shelf + town

surname transfer

What Shelton means

Shelton means “deck, shelf + town”, associated with scylfe and tun.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old English scylfe (“deck, shelf”) + tun (“town”). Doublet of Skelton.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Shelton (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

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

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

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Shelton is pronounced /ˈʃɛltən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 11,973 boys were recorded with the name Shelton between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 179 in 1972; its best national rank was #544 in 1937.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,477 in 2020 to #4,836 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,206 in 2015 to #4,836 in 2025.

In the United States, 172 girls were recorded with the name Shelton between 1943 and 2013. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1997; its best national rank was #5,206 in 1966.

How common is Shelton?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 158,000
21 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 81,300
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#4,836
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
109,425 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Shelton sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 109,425 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shelton. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Sheltons were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shelton was born before 1968 — so the typical Shelton is around 57 today.

Median birth year
1968
About 57 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
12.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
12.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
8,558
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 12.6% of all recorded uses (1,511).

Is Shelton 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
+16
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,359
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,630
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.34×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
11.7%
Peak was 1972 (179)
Years since peak
53
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#544
1937

Spellings of Shelton

Shelton is not the most common spelling — Sheldon is, with 33.8% against Shelton's 11.0%.

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 Shelton is used

Across 1910–2025, Shelton was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 2,941 boys, against 1 in 16,974 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in 100,000).

134 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Louisiana1 in 2,941
  2. 2North Carolina1 in 3,030
  3. 3Mississippi1 in 4,000
  4. 4South Carolina1 in 7,143
  5. 5Virginia1 in 7,143
  6. 6Georgia1 in 8,333
  7. 7Florida1 in 10,000
  8. 8Alabama1 in 11,111

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. Shelton has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Shelton around the world

Where Shelton 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
    2004–2007
    #4,333
    in 2007
  • France
    2000–2024
    #6,794
    in 2024
  • Canada
    1991–1994
    #1,526
    in 1994
  • South Australia
    1983–2012
    #771
    in 2012

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

Notable people named Shelton

People whose public names include Shelton, 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.

Shelton by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#4,836
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,359
Best rank ever
#544
1937
Peak year
1972
179 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
11,973
Count in 2025
21

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,206
1966
Peak year
1997
9 that year
First recorded
1943
Last recorded
2013
All-time count
172
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Shelton

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

ShelbySheldonSherwinShepardShepherdShermanTristonBrentonHoustonKashtonStantonBrittonLaytonKentonJaxtonBostonBentonHamptonSheridanBrixtonDaxtonQuintonLeightonBarton

Names with a curve like Shelton

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

EloyDomingoAlfonzoCornellJoesphTheronGuadalupeBlairRosendoBenitoGarthAlphonso

Sibling names for Shelton

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 Shelton

Top names of 1972, Shelton's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1937Boys' names starting with S