Shirley
English
"bright meadow"Share
Copy link
Shirley Origin and Meaning
The name Shirley is a boy's name meaning "bright meadow".
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.
Shirley in Nameberry Blog Posts
- How to Name Your Baby After Your Grandma
- Top Baby Names by Letter Through the Ages
- Rare Girls’ Names of the 1940s: Avis, Marigold and Jinx
- Edwardian Baby Names: Audrey, Marjorie and Nora
- Doll Names: Traveling Back in Time
- 100 Best Girl Names Below the Top 1000
- Great Lost Nicknames for Girls, Part 2
- African-American Heroine Names
- Names That Age Well
- Anne of Green Gables Names: Cordelia, Blythe and Jem
- 150+ English Names
- 1950s Girls’ Names: Where are Sharon and Sandra now?
- The Timeless + Timely Baby Name Formula
- Ann Alternatives: Updating a Classic
- S-Names for Girls: Popularity of “S” vs. “Sh” sounds
- Baby Names for Boys: Popularity of “S” and “Sh” sounds
- Literary Names: The Bronte Sisters
- Celebrity Baby Names: Vintage trendsetters from Old Hollywood
- Freckle-Faced Names: Polly, Peggy & Penny
- Most Popular Girls’ Names: 130-Year Overview
- Middle Names: The Strange, The Ordinary, and The Embarrassing
- How I Named My Baby: Leni Jean
- Unisex Girl Names: the Past, Present, and Future
- Bright, Sunny Baby Names for the Summer Solstice
- Israeli Baby Names: Noa, Noam and Tamar
- Baby Name Trends 2019
- Word Names: A Dozen of the Best for Girls
- 9 Glowing Girl Names: Brilliant and bright
- The REAL Top Baby Names of All Time!