first name
SHELTON
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 7,246 people named Shelton, 51.9% reported their origin as Black, 39.9% as White and 3.3% as two or more races. 96.5% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Shelton peaked in 1972, when 185 babies got the name.
At least 12,145 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Shelton by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #1,312. The largest share of babies named Shelton, 21.3%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Shelton is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Shelton has been most common in Louisiana (7.7×), North Carolina (7.2×), and Mississippi (5.6×), and least common in Michigan (0.18×).
7,720 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Shelton
Spelled almost the same
2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Shelton, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Shelton ranks #359 of 156,621, with 85,839 people. See Shelton as a last name
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