English · Girl name
Shirley
“bright meadow”
About the name Shirley
Shirley is an English name derived from Old English scir (bright) and leah (meadow), so it means ‘bright meadow’. It began as a place name and surname. Charlotte Brontë’s novel Shirley, published in the eighteen-forties, gave the name to its heroine and turned it into a girl’s name. Shirley Temple was a prominent actress in American cinema as a child star of the nineteen-thirties and later served as a United States ambassador. The actress Shirley MacLaine is another known bearer.
- Meaning
- bright meadow
- Origin
- English
- Gender
- Girl
- Pronunciation
- SHUR-lee(2 syl.)
Variants and spellings
- Shirlee
- Shirly
If you like Shirley
- Shelley
- Shirina
- Shirra
- Raven
Middle names for Shirley
- Shirley Ann
- Shirley Marie
- Shirley Grace
- Shirley Lynn
- Shirley Renee
Questions about Shirley
- What does Shirley mean?
- Shirley is an English name meaning "bright meadow".
- How do you pronounce Shirley?
- Shirley is pronounced SHUR-lee, with emphasis on the first syllable.
- What are variants of Shirley?
- Variants of Shirley include Shirlee, Shirly.
More names like this: English baby names