Shirley Name Popularity

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How popular is Shirley?

In 2018 the uncommon name Shirley, ranked the 1,464th Most Popular Girls Name in the United States.

This once, top 1000 name, Shirley is currently less popular.

It reached its highest popularity ranking of #2 for the first time in 1935 and as recently as 1936.

The greatest number of babies were given the name in 1935 with 42,358 occurrences.

The least amount of newborns dubbed Shirley in any given year was less than 5, most recently in 1881.

Shirley, decisively moved upwards in popularity around the years 1885-1892, 1894-1900, 1901-1929, and 1931-1935, whereas clearly downward trends happened around 1935-1941, 1949-1978, 1996-1999, and 2007-2010.

Sometimes the name Shirley has been more popular as a girls name and sometimes it has been more popular as a boys.

Shirley's popularity has been moving downward for some time. In recent years, continuing the trend, the number of babies given the name Shirley has dropped.

What does the future hold for the popularity of Shirley?

Shirley's popularity is at an extremely low point when measured against its most notable year.

The name Shirley is still rare and will probably continue to drift downward in popularity.

Relative to what it once was, Shirley is very rarely used as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

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for Percentages.

		Shirley (Girl)		Shirley (Boy)
Year	%	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank
2018		150	1,464	< 5	--
2017		184	1,279	< 5	--
2016		168	1,390	< 5	--
2015		181	1,313	< 5	--
2014		202	1,207	< 5	--
2013		173	1,347	< 5	--
2012		176	1,335	< 5	--
2011		188	1,269	< 5	--
2010		178	1,324	< 5	--
2009		232	1,102	< 5	--
2008		303	908	< 5	--
2007		287	946	< 5	--
2006		249	1,032	< 5	--
2005		284	889	< 5	--
2004		240	989	< 5	--
2003		313	793	< 5	--
2002		259	878	< 5	--
2001		305	780	< 5	--
2000		259	851	< 5	--
1999		231	918	< 5	--
1998		293	742	< 5	--
1997		333	661	< 5	--
1996		339	655	< 5	--
1995		343	636	< 5	--
1994		379	594	< 5	--
1993		405	581	7	7,502
1992		449	530	5	9,604
1991		446	524	< 5	--
1990		472	510	< 5	--
1989		456	514	< 5	--
1988		462	491	6	7,116
1987		458	473	6	6,818
1986		435	492	5	7,666
1985		494	442	5	7,428
1984		476	438	5	7,166
1983		507	428	10	4,098
1982		601	385	7	5,532
1981		579	391	< 5	--
1980		604	379	8	4,873
1979		670	347	7	5,281
1978		647	336	9	4,117
1977		776	307	< 5	--
1976		834	277	12	3,236
1975		876	278	6	5,361
1974		1,009	254	12	3,099
1973		1,155	218	7	4,434
1972		1,335	209	13	2,801
1971		1,586	193	18	2,265
1970		1,629	198	19	2,110
1969		1,865	173	25	1,670
1968		2,144	150	13	2,427
1967		2,510	141	31	1,383
1966		2,918	124	36	1,276
1965		3,368	111	31	1,403
1964		3,966	103	27	1,537
1963		4,384	99	27	1,541
1962		4,875	96	36	1,312
1961		5,631	85	36	1,343
1960		6,411	70	47	1,150
1959		7,284	61	41	1,226
1958		8,094	52	53	1,057
1957		8,847	46	62	970
1956		9,429	41	54	1,030
1955		9,750	37	51	1,064
1954		10,910	33	66	914
1953		12,146	29	69	868
1952		12,530	28	66	868
1951		13,920	27	78	802
1950		15,890	19	82	760
1949		17,278	18	83	759
1948		16,126	20	71	812
1947		17,648	19	124	613
1946		17,869	18	145	536
1945		16,149	14	143	501
1944		16,309	15	128	540
1943		17,817	12	186	463
1942		17,745	12	205	429
1941		16,953	10	174	447
1940		17,878	9	214	390
1939		20,445	5	238	370
1938		23,767	5	265	343
1937		26,816	4	337	293
1936		35,161	2	381	277
1935		42,358	2	435	259
1934		22,840	4	288	320
1933		14,315	9	213	373
1932		14,476	9	242	358
1931		14,405	9	239	363
1930		14,776	11	273	338
1929		14,579	9	263	347
1928		14,212	10	249	370
1927		13,315	9	242	380
1926		11,761	14	214	412
1925		10,513	17	223	402
1924		9,488	19	226	410
1923		7,919	26	231	391
1922		6,408	39	229	399
1921		5,694	44	227	404
1920		4,713	56	196	428
1919		3,149	89	197	418
1918		2,654	98	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		< 5	--	7	774
1880		8	671	10	630

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.