Shirrel
A feminine name of Old English origin meaning "bright or clear brook".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Shirrel. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Shirrel today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shirrel births was 1935 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shirrel. 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 Shirrel is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Shirrels were born before 1964.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shirrel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
1935
7 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1937 SSA rank
#3,943
Tracked since 1934
Gender
Gender distribution for Shirrel
Shirrel is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 27 total registrations, 17 (63.0%) were male and 10 (37.0%) were female.
Shirrel as a male name
- Ranked #3,943 in 1937
- 5 male births in 1937
- Peak: 1935 (7 births)
Shirrel as a female name
- Ranked #7,370 in 1965
- 5 female births in 1965
- Peak: 1958 (5 births)
Popularity
Shirrel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shirrel from the 1930s through to the 1960s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 17 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shirrel 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 Shirrel 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 Shirrel
The name Shirrel is believed to have originated from the Old English language, dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th century. It is thought to be a derivative of the Old English word "scir," which means "bright" or "shining," and the suffix "-el," which was commonly used to form diminutive or affectionate names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shirrel can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and property in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appeared as "Scirrel," which was likely an early spelling variation.
In the 12th century, the name Shirrel was mentioned in the Chronicles of Robert of Gloucester, a historical work that documented the reigns of English kings from the Norman Conquest to the early 13th century. This suggests that the name had gained some popularity during the medieval period.
One notable figure in history who bore the name Shirrel was Sir Shirrel Langhorne (1492-1558), an English knight and landowner from Lincolnshire. He served as a member of the Privy Council during the reign of King Henry VIII and played a role in the dissolution of monasteries.
Another historical figure with the name Shirrel was Shirrel Plunkett (1629-1704), an Irish Jacobite and Member of Parliament who fought for the Catholic cause in the Williamite War in Ireland during the late 17th century.
In the 18th century, Shirrel Holden (1720-1788) was a prominent merchant and shipping magnate from Bristol, England, who played a significant role in the development of the city's thriving trade with the West Indies and North America.
Moving into the 19th century, Shirrel Cummins (1836-1905) was an American businessman and philanthropist from Indiana. He co-founded the Cummins Engine Company, which later became the multinational corporation Cummins Inc.
Lastly, Shirrel Williamson (1892-1967) was a British artist and illustrator known for his paintings of rural English landscapes and his contributions to children's book illustrations in the early 20th century.
People
Shirrel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shirrel 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
Shirrel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shirrel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shirrel 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Shirrel a common name?
We classify Shirrel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shirrel most popular?
The single biggest year for Shirrel was 1935, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shirrel is about 72 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 Shirrel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shirrel a male name?
Yes, 63.0% of people registered as Shirrel in the SSA data are male. 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 Shirrel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shirrel 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 Shirrel 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 the name Shirrel?
See how many Americans are named Shirrel on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.