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Shelby

Girl name · 371 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Shelby: 371 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 35 births in 1998.

The name Shelby has English origins, arising from a surname derived from a place name meaning "willow farm" or "settlement by the willows," from Old English *scele* (willow) and *leah* (clearing or meadow). Perhaps the most famous bearer is Shelby Foote, the celebrated American historian and novelist best known for his monumental three-volume narrative of the American Civil War. There is also the fictional character Shelby Eatenton Latcherie from the film *Steel Magnolias*, while the name is famously associated with the Carroll Shelby car company, producer of the iconic Shelby Cobra. A car-themed variant is Shelbyville, a town in Indiana whose name shares the same root. In modern Scotland, Shelby has been given with modest consistency since the 1990s, often perceived as a unisex choice with a slightly more feminine tilt in recent decades.