The name Shirley is a boy's name meaning "bright meadow".

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In an earlier time Shirley was used primarily for boys, but the tide turned with the publication of Charlotte Bronte's novel Shirley in 1849, the story of a character whose parents had selected the name for a boy child, then decided to use it anyway when he turned out to be a she.

 Shirley peaked for boys at #259 in 1935, the same year it reached its peak of #2 for girls in the US. A famous fictional male namesake is Shirley Blythe, son of Anne and Gilbert Blythe in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables books. Shirley was Anne's maiden name.

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Shirley

The name Shirley peaked for boys at #259 in 1935. Shirley is occasionally used for girls in 2025.

The name Shirley is a girl's name of English origin meaning "bright meadow".

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Shirley Temple almost single-handedly lifted the gloom of the Great Depression, and in tribute (and perhaps wishing for a similarly curly-headed, dimpled darling of their own), thousands of parents of that generation gave their little girls her name. In 1935, Shirley was the second most popular girls' name in the country with more than 42,000 babies named Shirley.

 In an earlier time Shirley was used primarily for boys, but the tide turned with the publication of Charlotte Bronte's novel Shirley in 1849, the story of a character whose parents had selected the name for a boy child, then decided to use it anyway when he turned out to be a she.

 In addition to Shirley Temple, there have been Shirleys MacLaine and Jones and writer Shirley Jackson, as well as rocker Shirley Manson.

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The name Shirley is currently ranked #911 in U.S. births. and peaked for girls at #2 in 1935. It is currently rising in popularity. The name is most popular in SHIRLEY, SHIRLEY, and SHIRLEY. Shirley is occasionally used for boys in 1993.

Year	US rank	Births	Per million
2014	—	0	0
2015	—	0	0
2016	—	0	0
2017	—	0	0
2018	—	0	0
2019	—	0	0
2020	—	0	0
2021	—	0	0
2022	—	0	0
2023	—	0	0
2024	—	0	0
2025	—	0	0

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