Shirley Name Meaning & Origin
Shirley
Origin of the name Shirley:
Transferred use fo the surname originating from the English place-name Shirley, which is derived from the Old English elements scire (shire) or scīr (bright, clear) and lēah (wood, clearing, meadow, enclosure). The name makes reference to the open space where the moot (an early English assembly of freeman which met to administer justice and discuss community issues) was held. Shirley was originally a male name, but its use in Charlotte Bronë's novel Shirley (1849) established it as a female name.
From A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman.
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US Popularity of Shirley Over Time

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- Comments and insights on the name Shirley
The name Shirley peaks as a girl's name in the 1930's. This would we attributed to the popularity of Shirley Temple at the time. When I was a kid in the Seventies, any Shirleys I knew would be somebody's mom.
- Personal experiences with the name Shirley
My mother named my sister Shirley in 1959 because she had two relatives with that name and they were both beautiful. My Dad liked it a lot, too. But, it's out of time, most Shirley's are older. My sister is also beautiful, so she lived up to my parent's expectations, and Shirley loves her name. She also was always the only one in her class with that name, but everyone is familiar with it, and it never gets mispelled.
- Nicknames for Shirley
I called my sister "Shiree" as a child, now it's more likely Shirl, although she doesn't like it.
- Meanings and history of the name Shirley
the name Shirley was also used as a male name in the late 1800's and early 1900's in south particlarity Louisiana
If you name a boy Shirley, you better teach him how to fight!
Shirley is also a surname.
- Famous real-life people named Shirley
Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to serve in Congress and the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
Shirley Jones, American actress
Shirley Maclaine, American actress
Shirley Manson, Scottish musician
Shirley Temple, American actress
Shirley Booth, Actress from Hazel series in the fifties!- Shirley in song, story & screen
Anne Shirley, the protagonist of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Also name of Anne and Gilbert’s son in Anne of Green Gables (Shirley Blythe)
Shirley Bennett, Character in NBC's "Community"