How common is the name Shirley?

360,153 people in the United States have the first name Shirley, about 1 in 839. It ranks #138 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

SHIRLEY

#138

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
360,153
About
1 in 839
This common or more
35.3%
Who bears it

Of the 360,153 people named Shirley, 72.7% reported their origin as White, 18.1% as Black and 3.5% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.6%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Shirley peaked in 1935, when 42,801 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1935
Births that year
42,801
In 2025*
133 ▼100%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 695,934 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Shirley by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #11. The largest share of babies named Shirley, 52.5%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1880s#671301
1890s#534710
1900s#3441,926
1910s#21113,998
1920s#36100,902
1930s#11232,291
1940s#32173,253
1950s#69109,429
1960s#20338,387
1970s#46210,623
1980s#7935,124
1990s#1,1473,704
2000s#1,6282,735
2010s#2,4091,752
2020s#2,921799
Before 19010.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–2712.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4552.5%
Baby boom 1946–6429.3%
Generation X 1965–803.5%
Millennials 1981–961.1%
Generation Z 1997–120.6%
2013 and later0.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Shirley is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Shirley has been most common in Vermont (1.8×), West Virginia (1.8×), and Mississippi (1.8×), and least common in Nevada (0.22×).

687,342 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Shirley

#136 Austin · 362,154#137 Madison · 360,351#139 Alexis · 358,350#140 Jane · 356,607

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Shirley, most common first.

#5,414 Sherly · 3,181#5,613 Shirlee · 3,017#6,865 Shirly · 2,287#6,979 Sherley · 2,234#8,999 Shirl · 1,575#15,099 Shirely · 768#19,105 Sharlee · 559#20,056 Shirlie · 519

Also a last name

As a last name, Shirley ranks #1,355 of 156,621, with 25,421 people. See Shirley as a last name

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