In this paper we investigate the generation of shear strain elastograms induced using a lateral shear deformation. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the shear strain elastograms obtained under shear deformation exhibit significant differences between bounded and unbounded inclusion phantoms, when compared to shear strain images induced upon an axial compression. A theoretical model that estimates the decorrelation between preand post-deformation radiofrequency signals as a function of the shear deformation quantified by the lateral shear angle is also developed. Signal-to-noise ratios of shear strain elastograms obtained at different shear angles are investigated theoretically and verified using ultrasound simulations on a uniformly elastic phantom. Our results indicate that the signal-to-noise ratios of shear strain images increases to reach a maximum and then decreases with increasing shear angle. Shear strain elastograms obtained experimentally using single inclusion tissue-mimicking phantoms with both bound and unbound inclusions (mimicking cancerous masses and benign fibroadenomas respectively) demonstrate the characteristic differences in the depiction of these inclusions on the shear strain elastograms