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Shay

Shay is a unisex given name: about 52% of people named Shay are men and 48% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.

UnisexHigh
Male 52%Female 48%

This name is used for both men and women without a strong lean either way.

Verdict
Unisex
Male / female split
52% male / 48% female
Confidence
High (64 or more weighted country observations)
Most common in
United States, Israel
US births since 1880
4,297 male / 6,328 female
Data
nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
Updated
2026-09-11

How to address Shay

To address Shay when you do not know their gender, use the full name with no title: "Dear Shay," in English, "Guten Tag Shay," in German. About 52% of people named Shay are men and 48% are women, so a gendered salutation is close to a coin flip, and the neutral form above is the safer choice.

Ready-made greetings in six languages

English

Dear Shay,

German

Guten Tag Shay,

French

Bonjour Shay,

Spanish

Estimado/a Shay:

Chinese

Shay您好：

Japanese

Shay様

English

Hi Shay,

German

Hi Shay,

French

Salut Shay,

Spanish

Hola Shay,

Chinese

Shay你好：

Japanese

Shayさん

Greeting generator

This is a statistical estimate, not a statement about the gender, identity or correct form of address of any particular person.

Country breakdown

Gender of the name Shay by country (nam_dict, 55 country columns)
CountryHow commonUsuallyMale share
United Statescommonunisex name40%
Israeluncommonman's name98%

United States birth data

4,297 male · 6,328 female · 10,625 births recorded

Male 40%Female 60%

Since 1980: 41% male.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shay a male or female name?

Shay is a unisex given name: about 52% of people named Shay are men and 48% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.

How do I address Shay in an email?

To address Shay when you do not know their gender, use the full name with no title: "Dear Shay," in English, "Guten Tag Shay," in German. About 52% of people named Shay are men and 48% are women, so a gendered salutation is close to a coin flip, and the neutral form above is the safer choice.

Is Shay a unisex name?

Shay is a unisex name: 52% of people named Shay are men. The split stays close across most of the countries in the data.

Related names

MariaFemaleAnnaFemaleMarieFemalePeterMaleJeanDepends on the countryAlexanderMaleDavidMaleJoseMale

Sources

Gender by country: nam_dict, the c't first-names dictionary by Joerg Michael, roughly 44,000 names across 55 countries, licensed GFDL. US frequencies: United States Social Security Administration baby-name data, public domain. Method: how we classify names. Full dataset: data & licences. Data built 2026-09-11.

Cite this page

DearWho, "Is Shay a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/shay (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.

BibTeX
@misc{dearwho_shay,
  title  = {Is Shay a male or female name?},
  author = {{DearWho}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/shay},
  note   = {Data: nam_dict (GFDL), US SSA public domain}
}