Shirley Chisholm
There are approximately 11 people named Shirley Chisholm living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 31,159,485 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Shirley with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Chisholm. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
11
1 in 31,159,485
Named Shirley
251K
Alive today
Named Chisholm
15K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 251K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1935
Average age: 74
Estimated bearers: 15K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #2,878
Per 100K: 4.24
Top ancestry: White (65.1%)
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
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Chisholm surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Chisholm, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 65.1%.
- White65.1%
- Black or African American28.5%
- Hispanic or Latino2.6%
- Two or more races2.4%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7%
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).
The surname Chisholm appears at a rate of 4.24 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0042%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 11 people with the full name Shirley Chisholm. 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
FAQ
Shirley Chisholm: questions and answers
How many people are named Shirley Chisholm?
We estimate approximately 11 people in the United States share the full name Shirley Chisholm. That works out to about 1 in 31,159,485 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0732%) with the surname frequency (4.24 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Shirley Chisholm?
We classify Shirley Chisholm as "Very Rare". About 1 in 31,159,485 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 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.