Sheldon
About Sheldon
Like Marvin and Melvin, Sheldon has been perceived as about as far out as you can get, though there are very pretty towns in Devon and Derbyshire that inspired it. Sheldon Lee Cooper is the lead nerd character on the TV hit The Big Bang Theory, giving the name a brainy image. Nickname Shel (as in Shel Silverstein, author of Where the Sidewalk Ends) could, in the modern world of nature name love, be seen as beach evoking.
Pronounced SHEL-dun.
As of October 2026, Sheldon ranked #2788 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #247 in 1936.
Editor's take: The name Sheldon is a boy's name of English origin meaning "steep-sided valley".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,145 | 166 | 86.4 |
| 2015 | #1,281 | 140 | 73 |
| 2016 | #1,364 | 131 | 69 |
| 2017 | #1,339 | 134 | 72.4 |
| 2018 | #1,398 | 126 | 69.4 |
| 2019 | #1,541 | 110 | 61.3 |
| 2020 | #1,890 | 79 | 45.8 |
| 2021 | #2,053 | 72 | 41.2 |
| 2022 | #2,163 | 68 | 38.9 |
| 2023 | #2,359 | 59 | 34.5 |
| 2024 | #1,961 | 80 | 46.4 |
| 2025 | #2,788 | 46 | 26.9 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Sheldon.
- Clinton
- Don
- Chas
- Ashley
- Kelly
- Barry
- Kenny
- Mitch
- Michael
- Nicky
- Mick
- Philipp
- Randall
- Shelby
- Chapman
- Dan
- Vinny
- Eddy
- Mikey
- Barnabus
Sheldon on lists
Famous Sheldons
- Sheldon "Shel" Silverstein
American poet and author of children's books
- Sheldon Harnick
American lyricist
- Sheldon Leonard
American TV producer
- Sheldon Sharik Souray
Canadian ice hockey player
- Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator from Rhode Island
- Sheldon Martinez Davis aka Natalac or Nat
American rapper
- Sheldon Lee Glashow
American theoretical physicist and Nobel prize winner
- Sheldon Alan Richardson
American NFL player
- Sheldon Gary Adelson
American billionaire developer
- Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff
American comic book artist
- Sheldon "Shelly" Silver
American politician from New York
Sheldon in pop culture
- Sheldon Lee Cooper
character on TV's "The Big Bang Theory" and on the prequel series "Young Sheldon"
- Sheldon Hawkes
character on TV's "CSI: NY"
- Sheldon Mopes
character in movie "Death to Smoochy"
- Sheldon J. Plankton
character on TV's "SpongeBob SquarePants"
- Sheldon
unhatched chick in comic and TV series "U.S. Acres;" twin of brother Booker,