Shirley
Pronounced SH ER1 L IY0 (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 1935
- 145 years in use
- 3 spellings
How popular is Shirley?
Shirley is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 704,411 children — the 40th most common girls' name on record.
It has been slipping, down 36% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1935, when 42,783 children were given it.
Three other spellings are counted in that total — Sherley, Shurley and Shirlee — because they are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Shirley and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Sherley
- Shurley
- Shirlee
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- SH ER1 L IY0
- Stress pattern:
- 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Shirley
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Shirley
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Shirley?
- Shirley ranks 40th among girls' names in US records, with 704,411 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 1,534.
- Is Shirley a unisex name?
- No. Shirley is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Shirley most popular?
- 1935, when 42,783 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Shirley spelled?
- Sherley, Shurley, Shirlee. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.