Meaning not yet researched.
Shirley: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 133 in 2025. Its best rank was #2 in 1936.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #2 in 1936; #1,586 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Shirley in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,586 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1936, at #2.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Shirley: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 133 girls in 2025. Peak: #2 in 1936 · most girls in one year: 42,366 (1935).
In 2025, 133 US girls were named Shirley, making it the 1,586th most common girls’ name of the year, down 131 places from #1,455 in 2024. That is 18 fewer than the 151 girls named Shirley in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #2, reached in 1936. The most girls given the name in a single year was 42,366, in 1935. For comparison, it was #1,314 in 2015 and #19 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Shirley in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 18 babies with the name. In all, 695,934 US babies have been given the name, 99% of them girls and 1.4% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1930s, with 232,291 babies named Shirley.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 1,452 US girls were named Shirley; the busiest of those years was 2017, with 185. In 2025 that was about 1 in 12,085 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Shirley ranked highest in Minnesota in 2025, at #982 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Shirlee (5,714 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Sherley, Shirlie and Shirly are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Lee, Sherry and Shirl.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Dutch and English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Sherley (1,502), Shirlie (1,288), Shirly (1,069), Sherly (1,062), Sherlee (24), Shirli (22), Shyrlee (15), Shirlye (11), Shirleye (6), Sherlly (5).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 39 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 5 | #982 | — |
| Illinois | 9 | #998 | — |
| New York | 14 | #1,081 | #485 |
| New Jersey | 6 | #1,151 | #1,157 |
| Tennessee | 5 | #1,288 | #1,052 |
| Virginia | 5 | #1,353 | — |
| Michigan | 5 | #1,391 | — |
| Florida | 8 | #1,668 | #1,807 |
| Ohio | 5 | #1,669 | #1,672 |
| Georgia | 5 | #1,751 | — |
| California | 11 | #1,932 | #920 |
| Texas | 7 | #2,883 | #2,182 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 133 | #1,586 | — | — |
| 2024 | 151 | #1,455 | — | — |
| 2023 | 139 | #1,539 | — | — |
| 2022 | 134 | #1,588 | — | — |
| 2021 | 105 | #1,894 | — | — |
| 2020 | 137 | #1,550 | — | — |
| 2019 | 148 | #1,488 | — | — |
| 2018 | 152 | #1,450 | — | — |
| 2017 | 185 | #1,279 | — | — |
| 2016 | 168 | #1,393 | — | — |
| 2015 | 181 | #1,314 | — | — |
| 2014 | 202 | #1,213 | — | — |
| 2013 | 174 | #1,346 | — | — |
| 2012 | 176 | #1,338 | — | — |
| 2011 | 188 | #1,270 | — | — |
| 2010 | 178 | #1,325 | — | — |
| 2009 | 233 | #1,100 | — | — |
| 2008 | 304 | #908 | — | — |
| 2007 | 288 | #943 | — | — |
| 2006 | 249 | #1,032 | — | — |
| 2005 | 285 | #888 | — | — |
| 2004 | 240 | #990 | — | — |
| 2003 | 313 | #793 | — | — |
| 2002 | 259 | #878 | — | — |
| 2001 | 305 | #781 | — | — |
| 2000 | 259 | #851 | — | — |
| 1999 | 231 | #918 | — | — |
| 1998 | 293 | #742 | — | — |
| 1997 | 333 | #661 | — | — |
| 1996 | 339 | #655 | — | — |
| 1995 | 343 | #636 | — | — |
| 1994 | 380 | #593 | — | — |
| 1993 | 406 | #580 | 7 | #7,504 |
| 1992 | 449 | #530 | 5 | #9,606 |
| 1991 | 446 | #525 | — | — |
| 1990 | 472 | #510 | — | — |
| 1989 | 457 | #514 | — | — |
| 1988 | 462 | #492 | 6 | #7,118 |
| 1987 | 459 | #473 | 6 | #6,819 |
| 1986 | 435 | #492 | 5 | #7,671 |
| 1985 | 494 | #443 | 5 | #7,430 |
| 1984 | 477 | #438 | 5 | #7,172 |
| 1983 | 505 | #428 | 10 | #4,103 |
| 1982 | 601 | #385 | 7 | #5,537 |
| 1981 | 579 | #391 | — | — |
| 1980 | 603 | #380 | 8 | #4,875 |
| 1979 | 671 | #346 | 7 | #5,283 |
| 1978 | 647 | #336 | 9 | #4,118 |
| 1977 | 777 | #307 | — | — |
| 1976 | 834 | #277 | 12 | #3,237 |
| 1975 | 875 | #278 | 6 | #5,358 |
| 1974 | 1,010 | #254 | 12 | #3,099 |
| 1973 | 1,155 | #218 | 7 | #4,435 |
| 1972 | 1,334 | #209 | 13 | #2,803 |
| 1971 | 1,588 | #193 | 18 | #2,266 |
| 1970 | 1,629 | #198 | 19 | #2,112 |
| 1969 | 1,867 | #173 | 25 | #1,670 |
| 1968 | 2,142 | #150 | 13 | #2,429 |
| 1967 | 2,508 | #142 | 31 | #1,383 |
| 1966 | 2,919 | #124 | 36 | #1,276 |
| 1965 | 3,370 | #111 | 31 | #1,402 |
| 1964 | 3,967 | #103 | 27 | #1,538 |
| 1963 | 4,387 | #99 | 27 | #1,543 |
| 1962 | 4,869 | #96 | 36 | #1,309 |
| 1961 | 5,638 | #85 | 37 | #1,318 |
| 1960 | 6,411 | #70 | 46 | #1,165 |
| 1959 | 7,284 | #61 | 41 | #1,225 |
| 1958 | 8,088 | #52 | 53 | #1,059 |
| 1957 | 8,855 | #46 | 62 | #969 |
| 1956 | 9,429 | #41 | 54 | #1,029 |
| 1955 | 9,755 | #37 | 51 | #1,064 |
| 1954 | 10,909 | #33 | 66 | #914 |
| 1953 | 12,148 | #29 | 68 | #873 |
| 1952 | 12,529 | #28 | 67 | #859 |
| 1951 | 13,919 | #27 | 78 | #802 |
| 1950 | 15,891 | #19 | 82 | #760 |
| 1949 | 17,281 | #18 | 83 | #759 |
| 1948 | 16,121 | #20 | 71 | #811 |
| 1947 | 17,648 | #19 | 124 | #613 |
| 1946 | 17,870 | #18 | 145 | #536 |
| 1945 | 16,150 | #14 | 143 | #500 |
| 1944 | 16,309 | #15 | 128 | #540 |
| 1943 | 17,816 | #12 | 186 | #463 |
| 1942 | 17,750 | #12 | 205 | #429 |
| 1941 | 16,954 | #10 | 174 | #447 |
| 1940 | 17,881 | #9 | 214 | #390 |
| 1939 | 20,447 | #5 | 238 | #370 |
| 1938 | 23,766 | #5 | 265 | #343 |
| 1937 | 26,823 | #4 | 337 | #293 |
| 1936 | 35,161 | #2 | 381 | #277 |
| 1935 | 42,366 | #2 | 435 | #259 |
| 1934 | 22,841 | #4 | 288 | #319 |
| 1933 | 14,320 | #9 | 213 | #373 |
| 1932 | 14,476 | #9 | 242 | #358 |
| 1931 | 14,405 | #9 | 239 | #363 |
| 1930 | 14,775 | #11 | 273 | #338 |
| 1929 | 14,576 | #9 | 263 | #347 |
| 1928 | 14,215 | #10 | 249 | #370 |
| 1927 | 13,314 | #9 | 242 | #379 |
| 1926 | 11,762 | #14 | 214 | #412 |
| 1925 | 10,513 | #17 | 223 | #402 |
| 1924 | 9,489 | #19 | 226 | #410 |
| 1923 | 7,918 | #26 | 231 | #391 |
| 1922 | 6,407 | #39 | 229 | #399 |
| 1921 | 5,695 | #44 | 227 | #404 |
| 1920 | 4,713 | #56 | 196 | #429 |
| 1919 | 3,149 | #89 | 197 | #418 |
| 1918 | 2,654 | #97 | 182 | #442 |
| 1917 | 1,800 | #123 | 172 | #432 |
| 1916 | 1,245 | #160 | 155 | #451 |
| 1915 | 1,135 | #162 | 171 | #415 |
| 1914 | 906 | #160 | 141 | #403 |
| 1913 | 684 | #169 | 113 | #407 |
| 1912 | 489 | #198 | 66 | #489 |
| 1911 | 362 | #198 | 35 | #503 |
| 1910 | 318 | #204 | 24 | #596 |
| 1909 | 281 | #203 | 33 | #447 |
| 1908 | 284 | #198 | 22 | #551 |
| 1907 | 247 | #208 | 17 | #633 |
| 1906 | 187 | #234 | 23 | #471 |
| 1905 | 162 | #257 | 16 | #611 |
| 1904 | 138 | #272 | 24 | #443 |
| 1903 | 102 | #309 | 17 | #548 |
| 1902 | 104 | #311 | 22 | #456 |
| 1901 | 95 | #308 | 10 | #721 |
| 1900 | 110 | #324 | 32 | #401 |
| 1899 | 74 | #347 | 14 | #544 |
| 1898 | 70 | #373 | 15 | #567 |
| 1897 | 61 | #373 | 20 | #436 |
| 1896 | 55 | #384 | 12 | #669 |
| 1895 | 43 | #436 | 28 | #357 |
| 1894 | 47 | #408 | 22 | #408 |
| 1893 | 52 | #377 | 15 | #503 |
| 1892 | 58 | #347 | 15 | #538 |
| 1891 | 35 | #428 | 15 | #471 |
| 1890 | 40 | #405 | 19 | #423 |
| 1889 | 42 | #378 | 13 | #547 |
| 1888 | 32 | #442 | 14 | #552 |
| 1887 | 20 | #509 | 9 | #674 |
| 1886 | 16 | #570 | 17 | #446 |
| 1885 | 16 | #555 | 17 | #457 |
| 1884 | 18 | #498 | 11 | #603 |
| 1883 | 18 | #463 | 13 | #517 |
| 1882 | 9 | #670 | 11 | #605 |
| 1881 | — | — | 7 | #773 |
| 1880 | 8 | #671 | 10 | #630 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).