Sheila
An Anglicized spelling of the Irish Síle, which came into Irish from the Latin Caecilia, a Roman family name linked to caecus, meaning blind.
Sheila in 2025
Sheila was given to 65 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 4,736th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 51,005 babies born.
The history of Sheila
Sheila reached its highest point in 1962, when 8,807 babies were given the name, ranking 101st that year. Its best-ever ranking was 95th, in 1963.
Across the 119 years of records since 1907, 239,422 babies have been named Sheila. Half of them were born before 1960, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Baby Boomers.
Sheila by decade
| Decade | Babies named Sheila | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 33 | 1,949 |
| 1910s | 388 | 1,541 |
| 1920s | 1,858 | 658 |
| 1930s | 11,008 | 232 |
| 1940s | 35,830 | 138 |
| 1950s | 70,329 | 104 |
| 1960s | 74,289 | 95 |
| 1970s | 26,602 | 137 |
| 1980s | 9,585 | 421 |
| 1990s | 4,646 | 773 |
| 2000s | 2,868 | 1,202 |
| 2010s | 1,349 | 2,310 |
| 2020s | 637 | 2,914 |
Where Sheila is heading
Sheila has fallen 48% over the past decade, from 124 babies in 2015 to 65 in 2025.
That is less than 5% of its 1962 peak — Sheila is now a rare name in the United States.
Names like Sheila
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Sheila.