Pelham is a city and suburb of Birmingham in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 14,369, but has grown to 21,352 recorded by the 2010 census. It was named for famed Confederate American Civil War officer John Pelham. An F2 tornado damaged business buildings in Pelham along with Indian Springs, Helena, and Inverness on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1994.