Shepherd

What Shepherd means

From the word “shepherd”

From shepherd.

Source: Wiktionary, “Shepherd” (revision 89388972), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Shepherd?

US: Rising: up from #1105 in 2015. England & Wales: New in the last 10 years.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 1,408 boys got the name (#246 that year). First in the US records in 1886.

How common

• About 1 in 1,213 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 54,387 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in KY (2.63 per 1,000 boys), OK (2.6 per 1,000 boys), TN (2.58 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Shepherd is #246 in the US and #3684 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.4% of US babies named Shepherd were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Shephard16 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Shepherd

Boys

• River#111From the word “river”^*
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Enzo#72“home + ruler”^*
• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*
• Mateo#8Same root as Matthew, meaning “gift of the Lord”^*
• Tatum#202Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #585 in 2015, #202 in 2025

For a sister

• Dahlia#215Editor’s note Up from #412 in 2015 to #215 in 2025 in the US
• River#219From the word “river”^*
• Esme#298Diminutive of Esmeralda, meaning “emerald”^*
• Noa#226Hawaiian, meaning “commoner, free man”^*
• Luna#27“the moon”^*
• Juliette#110Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #227 in 2015, #110 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Shepherd’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.