Entry № 2194 · Irish origin

Sheila Sheila — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ SHEE-lah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Irish
Meaning
"Blind / heavenly (Sheila E.; Sheila Heen; Sheila Jackson Lee)"
Syllables
2
Rank · US 2025
№ 0
First recorded
Medieval (Irish)

A name that means "blind / heavenly (sheila e.; sheila heen; sheila jackson lee)".

Sheila is the anglicized Irish *Síle* — itself from the Latin Cecilia ("blind, heavenly"). **A top-30 US baby name from 1944 to 1963**. **Sheila Escovedo "Sheila E." (born 1957)** — **American singer and percussionist; longtime Prince collaborator; her 1984 album *The Glamorous Life* spawned the title track which reached #7 on the *Billboard* Hot 100; co-musical director of the 2007 Super Bowl XLI halftime show with Prince**. **Sheila Heen (born 1962)** — Harvard Law School lecturer and co-author of *Difficult Conversations* (1999, 3 million copies sold) and *Thanks for the Feedback* (2014). **Sheila Jackson Lee (1950-2024)** — US Congresswoman from Texas (1995-2024); led the effort to make Juneteenth a federal holiday (signed into law June 17, 2021). **Sheila Bair (born 1954)** — first woman to chair the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (2006-2011) during the 2008 financial crisis. **In Australia, "Sheila" is informal slang for "woman" (since 1832)**.

Featured throughout American culture.

Blind / heavenly. Sheila E.'s Glamorous Life with Prince; Sheila Jackson Lee made Juneteenth a federal holiday.

The name in its native script.

Síle
Transliteration
Síle
Pronunciation
/ ˈʃiː.lə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Sheila stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 0 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 27 in 1949
Babies named Sheila · last year
130 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
1908
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · #27 NOW · —

Sheilas before her.

Real people
Sheila E.
American singer-percussionist.
born 1957
Sheila Heen
Harvard lecturer; Difficult Conversations.
born 1962
Sheila Jackson Lee
American politician.
1950 – 2024
In fiction
Sheila
Australian slang for woman.
1832

Names connected to Sheila.

The number behind Sheila.

8

The Authority

Sheila reduces to eight — the number of Juneteenth law.

Why families chose this name.

"E.'s heavenly. Six letters. Sheila."
Aoife · Mother of one · Oakland