Shea is an Irish name — anglicized from the Gaelic Ó Séaghdha, meaning "hawk-like" or "learned," from the root séaghdha — that has been used for both boys and girls in American naming with a 1986 peak for boys. With 8,427 SSA records, Shea carries genuine Celtic heritage and a specific athletic-cultural resonance for New Yorkers.
Hawk-Like: The Irish Meaning
The séaghdha root is sometimes translated as "hawk-like" (referring to sharpness and keen perception) and sometimes as "learned" or "stately" — Irish etymology carries enough ambiguity that multiple meanings often coexist. Shea as a given name arrived in the United States through the Irish diaspora in the 19th and early 20th centuries, originally as a surname (O'Shea is the most common form). It transitioned to first-name use gradually, and by the mid-20th century it was an established if uncommon choice for Irish-American boys. Irish-origin names with this hawk imagery — Shea, Ciarán, Bran , carry a specifically pre-Christian Celtic energy.
Shea Stadium and New York
For New Yorkers and baseball fans, Shea is permanently associated with Shea Stadium , the home of the New York Mets from 1964 to 2008, named after William A. Shea, the attorney who helped bring National League baseball back to New York. That connection gives the name a specific New York cultural weight: old-school, borough-proud, baseball-saturated. It also means the name has a built-in conversation starter for any family with Mets connections. Four-letter Irish names with this kind of regional cultural imprint are surprisingly rare.
The Counter-Reading: Feminine Drift
Like Haven and Teagan, Shea has drifted toward more frequent female use in the past decade, particularly in American contexts where it sounds similar to Shay and Shayla. A boy named Shea today will encounter gender confusion more often than boys named Shea did in 1986. Compare Shea and Finn: Finn has an equivalent Irish pedigree and a much clearer masculine signal in current American usage. Both are excellent names; the question is how much the gender ambiguity matters to your family.