Sheldon
Boy nameSheldon has been given to 37,172 babies in the U.S. since 1881. It peaked in 1992.
Meaning & origin /ˈʃɛldən/
From Old English scylf (“shelf”) + dūn (“hill”) or denu (“valley”).
Origin: surnames
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
37,172
Peak year
1992 (624 babies)
Rank in 2025
Below top 1000
First recorded
1881
10-year trend
▼ -67%
Gender split
1% girls / 99% boys
Famous people named Sheldon
Sheldon Glashow
American theoretical physicist
Shel Silverstein
American poet, cartoonist, songwriter, and children's writer (1930-1999)
Sheldon Adelson
American businessman (1933–2021)
Sheldon Cooper
Fictional character in The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Sheldon.
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