Shamela
An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, or simply Shamela, as it is more commonly known, is a satirical burlesque novella by English writer Henry Fielding. It was first published in April 1741 under the name of Mr. Conny Keyber. Fielding never admitted to writing the work, but it is widely considered to be his.
Meaning & Origin of Shamela
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, or simply Shamela, as it is more commonly known, is a satirical burlesque novella by English writer Henry Fielding. It was first published in April 1741 under the name of Mr. Conny Keyber. Fielding never admitted to writing the work, but it is widely considered to be his.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Shamela
Shamela first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1977, with 6 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1989: 10 births, good for #7,449 nationwide. About 71% of every Shamela on record arrived during the 1980s, its defining decade. Shamela last appeared in the published SSA data in 1996, with 5 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 105 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1970s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Shamela
Phonetically similar names — useful when Shamela is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Shamela
What does the name Shamela mean?
How popular is Shamela in 2026?
When was Shamela most popular?
Is Shamela a unisex name?
What names go well with Shamela?
About the name Shamela
Shamela is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1977 and has accumulated 105 births in the dataset. Shamela's peak popularity came in 1989 when it ranked #7,449. Use the chart and map above to compare Shamela's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1989 →
- Names of the 1980s →
- Names starting with "S" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.