UK name, mostly boys
Shay
A Hebrew name meaning "gift" or "blessing.".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Shay is mostly registered for boys in the UK records. People looking for Shay popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #389, with 106 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2010, with 338 births.
This profile covers 5,165 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 31% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 6,551 living people in the UK are called Shay. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Shay ranked #389 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 106 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2010, when 338 boys were registered as Shay.
- • Shay ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #155 in 2024.
- • About 6,551 living people in the UK are estimated to have Shay as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
- • Across the England and Wales records shown here, 93.3% of Shay registrations are for boys.
Latest rank (E&W)
#389
2024
Births in 2024
106
Latest year
Peak year
2010
338 births
Estimated living
6,551
2026
Gender
Boy and girl registrations for Shay
In England and Wales birth records, Shay has been registered for both boys and girls. Across the years shown here, 93.3% of registrations are for boys and 6.7% are for girls.
These figures use the sex categories in the published baby-name files. They are useful for spotting how the name is used at registration, but they are not a live measure of gender identity or everyone living with the name today.
Shay registered for boys
- Ranked #389 in 2024
- 106 boys registered in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (338 births)
Shay registered for girls
- Ranked #2,115 in 2024
- 13 girls registered in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (24 births)
Meaning
What does Shay mean?
The name Shay has its origins in the Irish language, deriving from the Gaelic word 'sé' which means 'admirable' or 'worthy of esteem'. It is believed to have emerged as a given name in Ireland during the medieval period, sometime between the 5th and 15th centuries AD.
Shay is a variant spelling of the more traditional Irish name Seán, which is the Irish equivalent of the English name John. The name Seán itself is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning 'Yahweh is gracious'. This connection to the Hebrew language suggests that the name Shay may have been influenced by early Christian missionaries who brought biblical names to Ireland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shay can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. The chronicle mentions a man named Shay O'Byrne, who was a chieftain of the O'Byrne clan in County Wicklow during the 14th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shay. One of the most famous was Shay's Rebellion, a series of armed protests led by Daniel Shays in 1786-1787 against economic policies in Massachusetts following the American Revolutionary War. Shays, a former Continental Army captain, was born in 1747 and died in 1825.
Another prominent figure was Shay Patrick Cormac O'Connor, an Irish politician and barrister who served as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland from 1904 to 1924. He was born in 1847 and passed away in 1935.
In the literary world, Shay Duffin was an Irish novelist and short story writer who gained recognition for his works depicting rural life in Ireland. He was born in 1888 and died in 1967.
In more recent times, Shay Given, an Irish former professional footballer and goalkeeper, played for several clubs including Newcastle United and Manchester City. He was born in 1976 and retired in 2018.
Shay Mooney, an American country music singer and songwriter, is best known as one half of the duo Dan + Shay. He was born in 1992 and continues to actively perform and record music.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Shay over time
The chart below compares boys and girls registered as Shay in England and Wales, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Shay, the clearest high point is 2010. The latest England and Wales figure is 106 births in 2024, compared with 338 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shay by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Shay was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #399 | 521 | 5 |
| 2010s | #277 | 1,999 | 10 |
| 2000s | #197 | 2,270 | 10 |
| 1990s | #319 | 375 | 4 |
Geography
Where Shay is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Shay. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Shay ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #155 in 2024.
Across the UK
Shay in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#155 in 2024
29 years of NRS records, 901 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#177 in 2024
28 years of NISRA records, 532 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Shay
-
Shay Facey
association football player
English association football player (born 1995)
1995-
-
Shay McCartan
association football player; Gaelic football player
British footballer (born 1994)
1994-
Related
Names similar to Shay
- Samuel 108,505
- Sebastian 33,008
- Sam 20,889
- Stanley 16,354
- Sonny 15,028
- Sean 15,006
- Scott 12,587
- Seth 9,841
- Syed 9,050
- Stephen 8,884
- Spencer 8,333
- Steven 6,970
FAQ
Shay: questions and answers
How popular is the name Shay in the UK right now?
In 2024, Shay was ranked #389 for boys in England and Wales, with 106 births registered.
When was Shay most popular?
The peak year on record was 2010, with 338 babies registered as Shay in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Shay?
A Hebrew name meaning "gift" or "blessing.".
How many people are called Shay in the UK?
A total of 5,165 babies have been registered as Shay across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 901 more in Scotland and 532 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Shay most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Shay ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #155 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.