Gender Feminine & Masculine
Usage English
Pronounced Pron. SHEHL-ee  [key·IPA]

Meaning & History

From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "clearing on a bank" in Old English. Two famous bearers of the surname were Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), a romantic poet whose works include Adonais and Ozymandias, and Mary Shelley (1797-1851), his wife, the author of the horror story Frankenstein. As a feminine given name, it came into general use after the 1940s.

Related Names

VariantShelly
DiminutiveShell

Popularity

People think this name is

classic   upper class   wholesome   refined   strange   simple  

Categories

Entry updated January 21, 2022