Shelia
Torn between Shelia and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
a common respelling of Sheila, the Irish form of Cecilia, whose own origin, the Latin Caecilius, is uncertain, possibly linked to caecus, blind
How popular is Shelia around the world?
In the United States, 34 babies were named Shelia between 2020 and 2025.
Shelia is on the official records of the United States and Brazil.
United States
1 in 640,000
In the United States, 34 babies were named Shelia between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Shelia peaked in the 1950s and the 1960s in nearly equal measure. Shelia went to 18,504 US babies in the 1960s and has no row at all in the published 2025 record. US Social Security holds back any name given to fewer than five babies of one sex.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Argentina
last on record 2021
Shelia is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 101 people in Brazil were named Shelia, ranked 41,030th, with a median age of 41.
Among people named Shelia living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Ireland
last on record 1982
Shelia is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Montevideo City
last on record 1979
Shelia is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
South Australia
last on record 1973
Shelia is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Shelia
Most people given the name Shelia in the United States were born between 1950 and 1979. The Shelia you meet today is most often in her 50s or 60s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Shelia deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Shelia truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Shelia fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Shelia fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Shelia to your family’s tree →