Shirley (name)
Shirley is a given name and a surname originating from the English place-name Shirley, which is derived from the Old English elements scire ("shire") or scīr ("bright, clear") and lēah ("wood, clearing, meadow, enclosure"). The name makes reference to the open space where the moot (an early English assembly of freemen which met to administer justice and discuss community issues) was held. Shirley was originally a male name, but its use in Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley (1849) established it as a female name.
In the American Jewish society of the middle twentieth century described in Herman Wouk's novel Marjorie Morningstar, it is used as a pejorative term for "a typical, conventional, well-brought up New York Jewish girl, who will ultimately want a stable husband and family"; the book's protagonist is repeatedly told that her artistic inclinations are but a sham, since she is "a Shirley at heart".
Given name
Women
- Shirley Abicair (born 1928), Australian singer, musician, actress and author
- Shirley Abrahamson (born 1933), American judge
- Shirley Babashoff (born 1957), American swimmer
- Shirley Ballas (born 1960), English ballroom dancer
- Shirley Bassey (born 1937), Welsh singer
- Shirley Bond (born 1956), Canadian politician
- Shirley Booth (1898–1992), American actress
- Shirley D. Bowler (born 1949), American writer, editor and politician
- Shirley Brifman (1935–1972), Australian prostitute and brothel madam
- Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005), American politician, educator and author, first African-American woman elected to Congress
- Shirley Clamp (born 1973), Swedish singer
- Shirley Codd (born 1985), Belizean footballer
- Shirley Collins (born 1935), English folk singer
- Shirley Collins (politician) (born 1952), Canadian former politician
- Shirley Caesar (born 1938), American gospel singer
- Shirley Douglas (born 1934), Canadian actress and activist
- Shirley Eaton (born 1937), English actress, model and author
- Shirley M. Frye, American mathematics educator
- Shirley Goodman (1936–2005), American R&B singer, half of the 1950s duo Shirley and Lee
- Shirley Haim (born 1976), birth name of Szhirley (Danish singer)
- Shirley Hemphill (1947–1999), American stand-up comedian and actress
- Shirley Henderson (born 1965), Scottish actress
- Shirley Huffman (1928–2018), American politician
- Shirley Jackson (1916–1965), American writer
- Shirley Jones (born 1934), American singer and actress
- Shirley Kallek (1926–1983), American statistician
- Shirley Knight (born 1936), American actress
- Shirley Kocaçınar (born 1986), Turkish-Dutch footballer
- Shirley Kwan (born 1966), Hong Kong Cantopop singer
- Shirley McKague (1935-2020), American politician
- Shirley MacLaine (born 1934), American actress
- Shirley Mallmann (born 1977), Brazilian model
- Shirley Manson (born 1966), Scottish singer, lead vocalist of the rock band Garbage
- Shirley Muldowney (born 1940), American drag racer, first woman to receive a licence to drive a top fuel dragster by the NHRA
- Shirley Murray (1931–2020), New Zealand hymn writer
- Shirley Phelps-Roper (born 1957), American lawyer and political activist
- Shirley Pitts (1934–1992), English fraudster and thief, the "Queen of shoplifters"
- Shirley Rumierk, American actress
- Shirley Schrift (1920–2006), birth name of American actress Shelley Winters
- Shirley Scott (1934–2002), American hard bop and soul-jazz organist
- Shirley Setia (fl. 2013–present), New Zealand singer
- Shirley Sherrod, United States government employee who was unjustly fired in 2010
- Shirley Adelson Siegel (1918-2020), American lawyer
- Shirley-Anne Somerville (born 1974), British politician
- Shirley Stelfox (1941–2015), English actress
- Shirley Temple (1928–2014), American actress, singer, dancer, businesswoman and diplomat
- Shirley Williams (born 1930), Baroness Williams of Crosby, English politician and academic
- Shirley Yeung (born 1978), Hong Kong actress
- Shirley Zwerus or Shirley (Dutch singer) (born 1946), Dutch singer and pianist
Men
- Shirley Abbott (ambassador) (1923–2013), American businessman, diplomat, and politician
- Shirley Crabtree (1930–1997), English professional wrestler
- Shirley Povich (1905–1998), American sports columnist and reporter
- Shirley Leon Quimby (1893–1986), American physicist
- Shirley Waldemar Baker (1836-1903), English missionary and Prime Minister of Tonga
Surname
Origin | |
---|---|
Word/name | Anglo-Saxon |
Meaning | habitational name for one who lived in one of the parishes called Shirley in the counties of Derbyshire, Surrey, Hampshire and the West Midlands. |
Region of origin | England |
Shirley is a surname, with pockets of Shirleys living in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Utah, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Canada, New Zealand, Alaska, and parts of Great Britain. A work on the genealogy of the various branches of the Shirley family was published as Stemmata Shirleiana by E. P. Shirley in 1841. Their name comes from having lived in the parish of Shirley found in the counties of Derbyshire, Surrey, Hampshire and the West Midlands.
- Anne Shirley (actress) (1918–1993), American actress born Dawn Evelyeen Paris
- Bob Shirley (born 1954), American baseball player
- Craig Shirley (born 1956), American author, lecturer, historian and public affairs consultant
- Don Shirley (1927–2013), American-Jamaican jazz pianist and composer
- Drew Shirley (born 1974), American rock guitarist
- James Shirley (1596–1666), English dramatist
- Jerry Shirley (born 1952), English rock drummer
- Kevin Shirley (born 1960), South African music producer
- Paul Shirley (born 1977), American basketball player and writer
- Sewallis Shirley (MP) (1844–1904), British politician and founder of The Kennel Club
- Simon Shirley (born 1966), Australian decathlete
- Dame Vera Steve Shirley (born 1933), British information technology pioneer, businesswoman and philanthropist
- William Shirley (1694–1771), British colonial governor of Massachusetts
Fictional characters
- Anne Shirley, the title character in Anne of Green Gables, a 1908 novel by Lucy Maude Montgomery, as well as numerous adaptations
- Miss Shirley Brahms, the Cockney shop assistant in Are You Being Served?. Portrayed by Wendy Richard.
- Shirley the Loon, in Tiny Toon Adventures
- Shirley, the surname of the title character in Anne of Green Gables
- Shirley Fenette, a character in the anime Code Geass
- Shirley, a fictional character in The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3
- Shirley, a hairdresser in the videogame MySims
- Shirley Fennes, a character in the videogame Tales of Legendia
- Shirley Feeney, titular character in Laverne & Shirley
- Shirley Keeldar, titular character in the Charlotte Brontë novel Shirley
- Shirley Partridge, the main character in The Partridge Family
- the title character of the Shirley Valentine and its film adaptation
- Shirley, one of the main characters of Shaun the Sheep
- Shirley, an elderly female bird in The Angry Birds Movie
See also
- John Shirley-Quirk, British opera singer
- Shirl, often a diminutive form of Shirley
- Shelley, a nickname for Shirley
- Shurley, a variant of the surname Shirley