How common is the surname Shirley?

27,224 people in the United States had the surname Shirley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,341 Americans. It ranked 1,292nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Shirley?

Anne Shirley, American actress (1918–1993), followed by Don Shirley.

Where is the surname Shirley most common?

Wikidata records people named Shirley in the United States and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Shirley?

Shirley is /ˈʃɜː(ɹ)li/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Shirley getting more or less common?

Less common. 27,300 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 27,224 in 2010, down 0.3%.

Is Shirley also a first name?

Yes. Shirley is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Shirley

An English place surname, carried by 27,224 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈʃɜː(ɹ)li/ 2 syllables Soundex S640 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Shirley is more common than 99.2% of them.

Origin

English origin

English place name from Old English sċīr (“county”) + lēah (“meadow”). Equivalent to shire + -ley (“lea”). More at shire, leigh.

Shirley is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 27,224 people named Shirley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 11,341 Americans. That is about the same as in 2000, when the Census counted 27,300.

#1,292

rank among US surnames

27,224

people in 2010

9.2

per 100,000 Americans

-0.3%

change since 2000 (was #1,176)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,283	Dolan	27,329	11,297
#1,284	McKenna	27,293	11,312
#1,285	Head	27,292	11,313
#1,286	Montano	27,276	11,319
#1,287	Paredes	27,274	11,320
#1,288	Delatorre	27,265	11,324
#1,289	Langley	27,252	11,329

Who is named Shirley

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

83% of people named Shirley identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.3% as American Indian and Alaska Native.

White (not Hispanic) 83%
Black (not Hispanic) 9.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 3.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Two or more races 2.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Shirleys

8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Anne Shirley
American actress (1918–1993)
Don Shirley
American-Jamaican jazz pianist and composer, 1927–2013
Steve Shirley
British businesswoman and philanthropist (1933–2025)
Dorothy Shirley
British athlete, born 1939
John Shirley
American writer, screenwriter and musician, born 1953
Bill Shirley
American actor, singer, Broadway theatre producer (1921-1989)
George Shirley
American tenor, born 1934
Paul Shirley
American basketball player (born 1977)

Notable Shirleys come mostly from the United States (6) and the United Kingdom (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Sherley
Shurley

Surnames that sound like Shirley

Sherrill

Shirley has the Soundex code S640, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S640.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Shirley come from?: English place name from Old English sċīr (“county”) + lēah (“meadow”). Equivalent to shire + -ley (“lea”). More at shire, leigh.
How common is the surname Shirley?: 27,224 people in the United States had the surname Shirley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,341 Americans. It ranked 1,292nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Shirley?: In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Shirley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Shirley?: Anne Shirley, American actress (1918–1993), followed by Don Shirley.
Where is the surname Shirley most common?: Wikidata records people named Shirley in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Shirley?: Shirley is /ˈʃɜː(ɹ)li/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Shirley?: Shirley is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Shirley getting more or less common?: Less common. 27,300 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 27,224 in 2010, down 0.3%.
What are other spellings of Shirley?: Sherley and Shurley.
Is Shirley also a first name?: Yes. Shirley is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.