Shirley Blake
There are approximately 60 people named Shirley Blake living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 5,712,572 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Shirley with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Blake. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
60
1 in 5,712,572
Named Shirley
251K
Alive today
Named Blake
82K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 251K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1935
Average age: 74
Top Census group: White (72.7%)
Estimated bearers: 82K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #450
Per 100K: 23.90
Top ancestry: White (68.0%)
First name trend
Shirley: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Shirley. The peak year was 1935 with 42,800 births. The average person named Shirley today is 74 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shirley
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Shirley, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 72.7%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Shirley described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Shirley at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White72.7% · 261,898
- Black or African American18.1% · 65,282
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 12,432
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 10,800
- Two or more races2.0% · 7,185
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2,555
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Blake surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Blake, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 68.0%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Blake described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Blake at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White68.0% · 48,564
- Black or African American22.4% · 16,018
- Two or more races4.3% · 3,077
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 2,741
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 531
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 494
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Shirley has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0732% of the US population, based on 250,929 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Shirley right now.
The surname Blake appears at a rate of 23.90 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0239%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 60 people with the full name Shirley Blake. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Shirley
Related
Other people with the surname Blake
FAQ
Shirley Blake: questions and answers
How many people are named Shirley Blake?
We estimate approximately 60 people in the United States share the full name Shirley Blake. That works out to about 1 in 5,712,572 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0732%) with the surname frequency (23.90 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Shirley Blake?
We classify Shirley Blake as "Very Rare". About 1 in 5,712,572 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Shirley a male or female name?
Shirley is predominantly female. Out of 695,797 total SSA registrations, 1.4% were male and 98.6% were female. See the full Shirley profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are called Shirley Blake?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.