Baby name
FADING
🇧🇷 🇩🇪 🇮🇪 Shirley
/SHUR · lee/
Meaning
“Bright clearing”
Old English 'scir leah' meaning 'bright clearing', a pastoral landscape name that became gendered female in the 1880s.
Nicknames
shirl · lee
Vibe
gentle
How it ages.
Shirley boomed 1920-1960 in English-speaking countries and is now perceived as distinctly mid-century; minimal new usage.
The cultural moment.
United States popularity peaked 1930-1950 at top-20, then fell sharply post-1970; now rare among children under age 30.