A dynamic nonlinear theory for layered shallow shells is derived by means of the von Karman-Tsien theory, modified by the generalized Berger-approximation. Moderately thick shells with polygonal planform composed of multiple perfectly bonded layers are considered. The shell edges are assumed to be prevented from in-plane motions and are simply supported. A distributed lateral force loading is applied to the structure, and additionally, the influence of a static thermal prestress, corresponding to a spatial distribution of cross-sectional mean temperature, is taken into account. In the special case of laminated shells made of transversely isotropic layers with physical properties symmetrically distributed about the middle surface, a correspondence to moderately thick homogeneous shells is found. Application of a multi-mode expansion in the Galerkin procedure to the governing differential equation, where the eigenfunctions of the corresponding linear plate problem are used as space variables, renders a coupled set of ordinary time differential equations for the generalized coordinates with cubic as well as quadratic nonlinearities. The nonlinear steady-state response of shallow shells subjected to a timeharmonic lateral excitation is investigated and the phenomenon of primary resonance is studied by means of the "perturbation method of multiple scales". A unifying non-dimensional representation of the nonlinear frequency response function is presented that is independent of the special shell planform.