Meaning not yet researched.
Sheila: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 65 in 2025. Its best rank was #50 in 1965.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #50 in 1965; #2,686 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Sheila in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#2,686 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1965, at #50.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Sheila: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 65 girls in 2025. Peak: #50 in 1965 · most girls in one year: 8,778 (1962).
In 2025, 65 US girls were named Sheila, making it the 2,686th most common girls’ name of the year, down 655 places from #2,031 in 2024. That is 32 fewer than the 97 girls named Sheila in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #50, reached in 1965. The most girls given the name in a single year was 8,778, in 1962. For comparison, it was #1,708 in 2015 and #70 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Sheila in 119 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1907 with 9 babies. In all, 239,422 US babies have been given the name, 99.7% of them girls and 0.3% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1960s, with 74,289 babies named Sheila.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 1,041 US girls were named Sheila; the busiest of those years was 2020, with 131. In 2025 that was about 1 in 24,727 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Sheila ranked highest in California in 2025, at #1,824 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Sheyla (4,241 babies since 1880), Shyla (8,026 babies since 1880), Shiela (4,408 babies since 1880) and Sheilah (2,285 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Shela, Shella and Shila are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Cecilia.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Dutch. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Shela (1,398), Shella (1,129), Shila (1,080), Shilah (917), Sheela (679), Shelah (510), Sheilla (450), Sheala (279), Sheelah (89), Sheilagh (56), Shilla (10), Sheylla (6), and more.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 48 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 12 | #1,824 | #1,241 |
| New York | 5 | #2,380 | #1,062 |
| Texas | 5 | #3,728 | #1,700 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 65 | #2,686 | — | — |
| 2024 | 97 | #2,031 | — | — |
| 2023 | 102 | #1,942 | — | — |
| 2022 | 127 | #1,667 | — | — |
| 2021 | 115 | #1,779 | — | — |
| 2020 | 131 | #1,605 | — | — |
| 2019 | 90 | #2,105 | — | — |
| 2018 | 96 | #2,045 | — | — |
| 2017 | 104 | #1,941 | — | — |
| 2016 | 114 | #1,826 | — | — |
| 2015 | 124 | #1,708 | — | — |
| 2014 | 162 | #1,413 | — | — |
| 2013 | 145 | #1,523 | — | — |
| 2012 | 145 | #1,528 | — | — |
| 2011 | 183 | #1,291 | — | — |
| 2010 | 186 | #1,283 | — | — |
| 2009 | 170 | #1,395 | — | — |
| 2008 | 224 | #1,149 | — | — |
| 2007 | 271 | #990 | — | — |
| 2006 | 279 | #941 | — | — |
| 2005 | 240 | #1,018 | — | — |
| 2004 | 315 | #803 | — | — |
| 2003 | 303 | #819 | — | — |
| 2002 | 340 | #723 | — | — |
| 2001 | 383 | #658 | — | — |
| 2000 | 343 | #689 | — | — |
| 1999 | 353 | #653 | — | — |
| 1998 | 348 | #663 | — | — |
| 1997 | 309 | #699 | — | — |
| 1996 | 378 | #606 | — | — |
| 1995 | 395 | #583 | — | — |
| 1994 | 419 | #563 | — | — |
| 1993 | 543 | #464 | — | — |
| 1992 | 642 | #401 | — | — |
| 1991 | 633 | #406 | — | — |
| 1990 | 626 | #413 | — | — |
| 1989 | 658 | #385 | 8 | #6,131 |
| 1988 | 711 | #349 | 7 | #6,318 |
| 1987 | 800 | #306 | — | — |
| 1986 | 979 | #261 | 6 | #6,602 |
| 1985 | 1,012 | #251 | — | — |
| 1984 | 908 | #267 | — | — |
| 1983 | 946 | #249 | 5 | #7,173 |
| 1982 | 1,099 | #231 | 6 | #6,278 |
| 1981 | 1,214 | #217 | 7 | #5,406 |
| 1980 | 1,214 | #214 | 5 | #7,139 |
| 1979 | 1,368 | #195 | 5 | #6,930 |
| 1978 | 1,414 | #184 | 7 | #4,976 |
| 1977 | 1,656 | #163 | 8 | #4,519 |
| 1976 | 1,871 | #143 | 12 | #3,236 |
| 1975 | 2,099 | #134 | 8 | #4,253 |
| 1974 | 2,438 | #121 | 11 | #3,295 |
| 1973 | 2,999 | #101 | 9 | #3,655 |
| 1972 | 3,394 | #90 | 9 | #3,569 |
| 1971 | 4,333 | #81 | 14 | #2,667 |
| 1970 | 4,937 | #75 | 10 | #3,246 |
| 1969 | 5,245 | #68 | 16 | #2,207 |
| 1968 | 5,730 | #59 | 16 | #2,097 |
| 1967 | 6,326 | #56 | 27 | #1,501 |
| 1966 | 7,208 | #51 | 16 | #2,030 |
| 1965 | 7,904 | #50 | 28 | #1,478 |
| 1964 | 8,471 | #51 | 19 | #1,889 |
| 1963 | 8,706 | #50 | 21 | #1,784 |
| 1962 | 8,778 | #52 | 29 | #1,475 |
| 1961 | 7,805 | #59 | 19 | #1,936 |
| 1960 | 7,905 | #56 | 20 | #1,851 |
| 1959 | 7,984 | #52 | 22 | #1,753 |
| 1958 | 7,291 | #59 | 19 | #1,886 |
| 1957 | 7,763 | #58 | 17 | #2,009 |
| 1956 | 7,872 | #55 | 18 | #1,938 |
| 1955 | 7,661 | #57 | 7 | #3,465 |
| 1954 | 7,202 | #60 | 14 | #2,197 |
| 1953 | 6,965 | #60 | 17 | #1,947 |
| 1952 | 6,217 | #64 | 13 | #2,240 |
| 1951 | 5,897 | #69 | 13 | #2,236 |
| 1950 | 5,322 | #70 | 15 | #2,011 |
| 1949 | 4,774 | #76 | 12 | #2,320 |
| 1948 | 5,022 | #71 | 10 | #2,593 |
| 1947 | 5,095 | #73 | 12 | #2,343 |
| 1946 | 4,706 | #70 | 8 | #2,887 |
| 1945 | 3,178 | #89 | 7 | #2,962 |
| 1944 | 2,665 | #103 | 15 | #1,877 |
| 1943 | 3,063 | #92 | 13 | #2,171 |
| 1942 | 2,973 | #94 | 13 | #2,135 |
| 1941 | 2,341 | #110 | — | — |
| 1940 | 1,923 | #130 | — | — |
| 1939 | 1,957 | #125 | 8 | #2,794 |
| 1938 | 1,784 | #136 | 11 | #2,307 |
| 1937 | 1,573 | #142 | 12 | #2,182 |
| 1936 | 1,312 | #157 | 7 | #3,110 |
| 1935 | 1,326 | #151 | 6 | #3,596 |
| 1934 | 781 | #222 | 6 | #3,622 |
| 1933 | 737 | #226 | — | — |
| 1932 | 609 | #251 | — | — |
| 1931 | 538 | #266 | — | — |
| 1930 | 341 | #364 | — | — |
| 1929 | 332 | #368 | 5 | #4,460 |
| 1928 | 242 | #434 | — | — |
| 1927 | 233 | #456 | — | — |
| 1926 | 210 | #479 | — | — |
| 1925 | 214 | #478 | — | — |
| 1924 | 162 | #576 | — | — |
| 1923 | 139 | #626 | — | — |
| 1922 | 120 | #664 | — | — |
| 1921 | 110 | #707 | — | — |
| 1920 | 91 | #767 | — | — |
| 1919 | 69 | #841 | — | — |
| 1918 | 76 | #824 | — | — |
| 1917 | 59 | #902 | — | — |
| 1916 | 45 | #1,039 | — | — |
| 1915 | 42 | #1,039 | — | — |
| 1914 | 31 | #1,096 | — | — |
| 1913 | 18 | #1,398 | — | — |
| 1912 | 20 | #1,214 | — | — |
| 1911 | 18 | #1,067 | — | — |
| 1910 | 10 | #1,614 | — | — |
| 1909 | 13 | #1,204 | — | — |
| 1908 | 11 | #1,340 | — | — |
| 1907 | 9 | #1,492 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).