Shepherd
An English occupational surname for someone who tended sheep, from Old English words for sheep and herder.
Shepherd in 2025
Shepherd was given to 1,416 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 476th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 2,341 babies born.
The history of Shepherd
Shepherd reached its highest point in 2025, when 1,416 babies were given the name, ranking 476th that year.
Across the 140 years of records since 1886, 7,815 babies have been named Shepherd. Half of them were born before 2022, which places the name's centre of gravity with Generation Alpha.
Shepherd by decade
| Decade | Babies named Shepherd | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 16 | 1,929 |
| 1910s | 61 | 5,229 |
| 1920s | 90 | 4,424 |
| 1930s | 25 | 6,162 |
| 1940s | 64 | 4,209 |
| 1950s | 55 | 6,094 |
| 1960s | 60 | 6,641 |
| 1970s | 48 | 6,655 |
| 1980s | 15 | 13,374 |
| 1990s | 57 | 12,729 |
| 2000s | 289 | 4,549 |
| 2010s | 2,074 | 1,282 |
| 2020s | 4,961 | 476 |
Where Shepherd is heading
Shepherd has grown more than 8.1 times over the past decade, from 174 babies in 2015 to 1,416 in 2025.
Names like Shepherd
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Shepherd.