Girlee
A feminine name denoting a little girl or a baby female.
Name Census estimates that about 1 living Americans carry the first name Girlee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Girlee today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Girlee births was 1902 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Girlee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Girlee is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Girlees were born before 1971.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Girlee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
1
~ 1 in 342,754,338 Americans
Peak year
1902
5 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1931 SSA rank
#4,598
Tracked since 1902
Popularity
Girlee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Girlee from the 1900s through to the 1930s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Girlee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Girlee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Girlee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Girlee
The given name Girlee is a relatively modern invention, believed to have originated in the early 20th century as a playful variation of the more common name Girl. While its exact origins are unclear, some historians suggest it emerged as a nickname or pet name used affectionately for young girls, possibly inspired by the English word "girl" itself.
Girlee does not seem to have any direct linguistic roots or connections to ancient languages or cultures. Its emergence appears to be a product of cultural and societal trends in the English-speaking world, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom, where the name gained popularity in the mid-20th century.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Girlee was Girlee Estelle Whitfield, an American actress and dancer born in 1925. She appeared in several Broadway musicals and films during the 1940s and 1950s, including the 1949 movie "On the Town".
Another notable Girlee was Girlee Samantha Carter, an American jazz singer and actress born in 1932. She performed with renowned musicians like Duke Ellington and Count Basie and appeared in films such as "The Wiz" in 1978.
In the world of sports, Girlee Vivian Weathers was an American professional baseball player who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1940s and 1950s. Born in 1923, she was a pitcher for the Rockford Peaches and the Fort Wayne Daisies.
Girlee Beatrice Johnson (1913-2002) was an American educator and civil rights activist who played a significant role in the desegregation of public schools in Virginia during the mid-20th century.
In literature, Girlee Edith Wilson (1901-1972) was an American author and educator known for her children's books, including the popular "Flip and the Circus" series published in the 1930s and 1940s.
While the name Girlee gained some popularity in the mid-20th century, particularly in the United States, it has since become relatively uncommon, though it continues to be used as a unique and quirky first name in some circles.
People
Girlee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Girlee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Girlee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Girlee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Girlee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 342,754,338 US residents.
Is Girlee a common name?
We classify Girlee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 3.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Girlee most popular?
The single biggest year for Girlee was 1902, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Girlee is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Girlee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Girlee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Girlee in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Girlee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Girlee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Girlee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Girlee as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.