Shirleen
A feminine name with English and Scottish roots, meaning "fair girl".
Name Census estimates that about 1,120 living Americans carry the first name Shirleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shirleen today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shirleen births was 1948 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shirleen. 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 Shirleen is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Shirleens were born before 1970.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 306,031 Americans
Peak year
1948
82 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2006 SSA rank
#14,922
Tracked since 1925
Popularity
Shirleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shirleen from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 526 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shirleen 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 Shirleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shirleens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Shirleen, while Texas, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shirleen
The name Shirleen is a variant of the English name Shirley, which itself is derived from the Old English word "scir" meaning bright or shining, and "leah" meaning a meadow or clearing. The name Shirleen emerged in the early 20th century as a feminine form of the name Shirley.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shirleen dates back to the late 19th century, although it remained relatively uncommon until the mid-20th century. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shirleen was Shirleen Hartley, an English actress born in 1892.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shirleen. One prominent example is Shirleen Oppenheimer, an American philanthropist and arts patron born in 1929. She was a major supporter of the arts in New York City and played a crucial role in the establishment of the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Another significant figure was Shirleen Furniss, a Canadian politician born in 1935. She served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and was recognized for her advocacy of women's rights and social justice issues.
In the field of literature, Shirleen Grace Chew, a Singaporean poet and writer born in 1952, gained recognition for her works exploring themes of identity, culture, and gender. Her poetry collections, such as "Melting Paradoxes" and "Holding the Daisies," have received critical acclaim.
Shirleen Lau, born in 1981, is a prominent Hong Kong singer and actress. She rose to fame in the early 2000s through her participation in several popular television dramas and has released several successful albums, cementing her status as a influential figure in the Hong Kong entertainment industry.
While the name Shirleen has its origins in English-speaking regions, it has gained popularity across various cultures and countries, reflecting the diversity and adaptability of names throughout history.
People
Shirleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shirleen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shirleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shirleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,120 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shirleen 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 306,031 US residents.
Is Shirleen a common name?
We classify Shirleen as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,790 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shirleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Shirleen was 1948, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shirleen is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shirleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shirleen 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.
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.