Shelly

Shelly is a female given name: 97% of people named Shelly are women, and it is recorded as female in 2 of the 3 countries covered.

FemaleHigh

Male 3%Female 97%

Verdict: Female
Male / female split: 3% male / 97% female
Confidence: High (64 or more weighted country observations)
Most common in: United States, Israel, Great Britain
US births since 1880: 2,190 male / 84,203 female
Data: nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
Updated: 2026-09-11

How to address Shelly

When you do not know their gender for certain, the full name with no title is the safe choice: "Dear Shelly," in English, "Guten Tag Shelly," in German. Shelly is a female given name: about 97% of people named Shelly are women. A quick look at a profile confirms it for certain.

Ready-made greetings in six languages

English

Dear Shelly,

German

Guten Tag Shelly,

French

Bonjour Shelly,

Spanish

Estimado/a Shelly:

Chinese

Shelly您好：

Japanese

Shelly様

English

Hi Shelly,

German

Hi Shelly,

French

Salut Shelly,

Spanish

Hola Shelly,

Chinese

Shelly你好：

Japanese

Shelly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 Shelly by country (nam_dict, 55 country columns)
Country	How common	Usually	Male share
United States	very common	woman's name	3%
Israel	uncommon	woman's name	2%
Great Britain	rare	woman's name	25%

United States birth data

2,190 male · 84,203 female · 86,393 births recorded

Male 3%Female 97%

Since 1980: 1% male.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shelly a male or female name?

Shelly is a female given name: 97% of people named Shelly are women, and it is recorded as female in 2 of the 3 countries covered.

How do I address Shelly in an email?

Is Shelly a unisex name?

Shelly is not a unisex name: 3% of people named Shelly are men. Shelly leans strongly female overall.

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

BibTeX

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