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Shelley

Shelley: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“clearing on a bank”
Origin
Old English
Say it
SHEL-ee · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls (98% of all uses)

Transferred from an English surname and place name, from Old English elements related to scylf 'ledge, shelf' and leah 'woodland clearing'. It is also a spelling variant of Shelly.

English namesNames meaning natureNames meaning earthSurname-style namesClassic names

How popular is Shelley?

20243.3 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 Shelley in 202411

Peak year1972

Total US babies since 188074,326

Shelley is fading: recent use is about 54% of its level ten years before.

Names like Shelley

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Shellyfrom the ledge meadow · English
  • Shelliemeadow on a ledge · English
  • Shellimeadow on a ledge · English
  • Audreynoble strength · Old English
  • Ashleyash tree clearing · Old English
  • Oakleyoak clearing · Old English
  • Hadleyheather field · Old English
  • Blakelydark wood or clearing · Old English

Shelley questions

What does the name Shelley mean?

Shelley means "clearing on a bank". It comes from Old English. Transferred from an English surname and place name, from Old English elements related to scylf 'ledge, shelf' and leah 'woodland clearing'. It is also a spelling variant of Shelly.

Is Shelley a boy or girl name?

Shelley is mainly a girl's name in US records (98% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Shelley?

11 US babies were named Shelley in 2024. Its peak year was 1972.

How do you pronounce Shelley?

Shelley is usually pronounced SHEL-ee.

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.