Feminine dossier · first seen 1880
Shirley
Endangered
Down 99.7% from peak
Peak era
1935
Peak births
42,366
Current vitality
Fragile
Peak generation
Silent Generation
Quick answers about Shirley
How many people are named Shirley?
An estimated 192,378 living Americans are named Shirley.
How rare is Shirley?
Shirley is uncommon among babies today, with 133 girls receiving the name in 2025, down 99.7% from its 1935 peak.
How old is the typical Shirley?
The median age of a living American named Shirley is approximately 74 years, with most bearers falling between 65 and 80 years old.
Is Shirley still popular?
No. Shirley is endangered as a baby name, down 99.7% from its 1935 peak with 133 births in 2025.
Where is Shirley most common?
Shirley has its strongest geographic signal in Mississippi, where it appears 4.8× more often than the national baseline.
1880Peak 19352025
Peak year
1935
Decline from peak
99.7%
2025
133
All-time
686,383
Where it lives now
Shirley is most concentrated in Mississippi — about 3.7× the national rate in the 1970s.
States where Shirley is given more often than the national average — its present-day heartland.