Shirley began as an English surname and place name from the Old English scir and leah, "bright meadow" or "bright clearing". Charlotte Bronte's 1849 novel Shirley turned it into a girl's name, and child star Shirley Temple made it one of the most popular names of the 1930s. Today it is a grandmother's name: number 851 in 2000, out of the top 1000 soon after, and number 1586 in 2025.