Shay: Meaning of Baby Name Shay

Shay Popularity Snapshot

Across the entire US Social Security Administration record (1880–2024), 4,947 baby boys have been named Shay. The name peaked in 1991 with 154 US births that year (rank #837). In 2024, ranked #1701 nationally — 864 places below its 1991 peak.

Top States for Shay

Based on 1910–2024 US SSA state-level records, the three states with the most Shay births are: California (558), Texas (267), New York (175).

Other Irish-Origin Names Like Shay

If you like Shay's Irish origin, consider these related names: Abban, Abiageal, Abracham, Adare, Addergoole. Browse all Irish names →

4-Letter Names Starting with S

Names with Shay's exact length and starting letter: Saad, Saba, Safa, Sage, Sakr.

Quick Facts About Shay

1,167

Irish baby names in our dictionary

705

Irish male names

83

4-letter S-names in our dictionary

691

S-male names total

2020–2023

years of US SSA records (4 total)

1,133

total US births named Shay (all years)

US Popularity History (2020–2023)

📉 Falling fast: Shay dropped 67 places in the US girls ranking over the last 3 years (#932 in 2020 → #999 in 2023).

Annual US births named Shay by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2022 with 301 girls named Shay (girl rank #914 that year).

Where it stands today: in 2023, ranked #999 for girls (255 US births). That's 85 places below its 2022 peak.

Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.

Where in the US Is Shay Most Popular?

Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Shay the strongest states are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Minnesota.

Strongest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Massachusetts	#615	74
2	New Jersey	#628	88
3	Minnesota	#647	70
4	Washington	#706	40
5	Wisconsin	#716	54
6	Michigan	#725	49
7	Pennsylvania	#739	70
8	Utah	#746	28
9	Illinois	#751	107
10	Colorado	#806	26

Weakest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	California	#867	189
2	New York	#840	104
3	Missouri	#821	29
4	Colorado	#806	26
5	Illinois	#751	107
6	Utah	#746	28
7	Pennsylvania	#739	70
8	Michigan	#725	49
9	Wisconsin	#716	54
10	Washington	#706	40

Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Shay in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.

Variant Forms

Name	Meaning	Gender	Origin
Shai	Variant Of Shea Courteous.	Male	Irish

Looking for names like Shay?

A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.

See all names like Shay →

Compare Shay to Other Popular Names

Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Shay against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).

Shay vs Olivia 210,124 births since 2014

Shay vs Emma 202,477 births since 2014

Shay vs Sophia 169,709 births since 2014

Shay vs Isabella 158,431 births since 2014

Shay vs Ava 157,356 births since 2014

Shay vs Charlotte 151,872 births since 2014

Shay vs Mia 149,779 births since 2014

Shay vs Amelia 142,728 births since 2014

Compare to a different name →