Sheila

Where Sheila comes from

Anglicized spelling of Irish Síle, equivalent to Cecilia. Doublet of Cecilia.
— Wiktionary's entry for Sheila
  • Irish
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1907
    First appearance
    #1,384 among girls, 9 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1938
    Sheila Dikshit born
    Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Delhi
  3. 1950
    Sheila Jackson Lee born
    American lawyer and politician
  4. 1963
    Peak, #50
    8,706 babies named Sheila — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1971
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #81.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Irish, popular in the UK from the 1920s to the 1950s; variant forms Shelagh, Sheelagh, Sheilagh, Sheela, Sile.
Namesakes
  • Sheila Dikshit · Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Delhi, 1938–2019
  • Sheila Jackson Lee · American lawyer and politician, 1950–2024
  • Sheila E. · American singer and percussionist, born 1957
  • Sheila Jordan · American jazz singer, 1928–2025
  • Sheila Young · American speed skater and racing cyclist, born 1950

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.