NameRealm
Shay

Shay: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“hawk-like, stately”
Origin
Irish
Say it
shay · 1 syllable
Used for
Both (62% girls, 38% boys since 1880)

Anglicized form of the Irish surname and given name Séaghdha. It can also be used as a variant of Shea.

Irish namesEnglish namesNames meaning birdNames meaning nobleShort namesInternational namesModern names

How popular is Shay?

202492.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Shay in 2024306

2024 rank#1,156 girls

Peak year2021

Total US babies since 188012,989

Shay is rising: use over the last five years is 2.3× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Shay

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Sheastately, hawk-like · Irish
  • Shaehawk-like; stately · Irish
  • Rileyvaliant · Irish
  • Rowanlittle red-haired one · Irish
  • Quinndescendant of Conn · Irish
  • Roryred king · Irish
  • Lennonlover · Irish
  • Caseyvigilant · Irish

Shay questions

What does the name Shay mean?

Shay means "hawk-like, stately". It comes from Irish. Anglicized form of the Irish surname and given name Séaghdha. It can also be used as a variant of Shea.

Is Shay a boy or girl name?

Shay is used for both: about 62% of US babies named Shay since 1880 were girls.

How popular is Shay?

306 US babies were named Shay in 2024. Its peak year was 2021.

How do you pronounce Shay?

Shay is usually pronounced shay.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.