Girls' name · peaked in 1935
Shirley name popularity since 1925
643,668 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Shirley (99.0% girls, 1.0% boys). Half of them were born in 1941 or earlier, so the typical Shirley is about 85 years old in 2026. Shirley peaked in 1935 as the #2 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 643,668
- Named Shirley, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,586 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.0% girls
- 636,995 girls · 6,673 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 1.96× its national share
Peak year is the year Shirley made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Shirley births per year, 1925–2025
1935 was the biggest year for Shirley both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1930 and 1935, Shirley became 3.1× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1935 and 1940, its share of baby girls fell by 61%, from 1 in 25 to 1 in 64.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Shirley's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Shirley.
Decade by decade
Babies named Shirley in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 64,380 | 1,191 | – |
| 1930s | 229,380 | 2,911 | #2 |
| 1940s | 171,780 | 1,473 | #14 |
| 1950s | 108,807 | 622 | #37 |
| 1960s | 38,078 | 309 | #111 |
| 1970s | 10,520 | 103 | #278 |
| 1980s | 5,072 | 52 | #443 |
| 1990s | 3,692 | 12 | #636 |
| 2000s | 2,735 | 0 | #888 |
| 2010s | 1,752 | 0 | #1,314 |
| 2020–25 | 799 | 0 | #1,586 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
56.8% of babies named Shirley from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Shirley is most popular
The index compares Shirley's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Shirley.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 1.96× | 11,119 |
| Mississippi | 1.94× | 15,205 |
| Arkansas | 1.92× | 12,772 |
| South Dakota | 1.76× | 3,616 |
| North Dakota | 1.74× | 3,539 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Shirley and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Shirley (this page) | 636,995 | 1935 |
| Shirlee | 4,969 | 1935 |
| Shirlie | 1,051 | 1935 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Shirley's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Shirley.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Shirley (1935).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data