Shirleen
Feminine · “the bright clearing”
The name this is built on belonged to a woman in a novel who was given a man's name on purpose. Charlotte Brontë's heroine is called Shirley because her parents wanted a son and used the name anyway — and Brontë says so explicitly, several times, as a point about the character.
How old is the name Shirleen?
Shirleen first appears in US birth records in 1925 — 100 years ago. The typical Shirleen alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 1,300 people named Shirleen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shirleen most popular?
Shirleen peaked in 1948, reaching #964 nationally. See the whole 1948 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Shirley to Shirleen
The story of Shirleen
The ending is the American answer to a French one. Where French makes women's names in -ine — Christine, Josephine, Delphine — American naming of the mid-century preferred to write the same sound as -ene or -een, which reads plainer and less foreign and requires no accent. The three spellings are interchangeable in sound and quite different in register: -ine looks continental, -ene looks like Charlene and Darlene, and -een looks Irish, which is a third association entirely and probably unintended.
Meaning
the bright clearing
An English place name used as a surname and then as a given name. Both elements are Old English and the identification is not disputed.
How the name formed
- Shirley
- Shirlene
- Shirleen
Pronouncing Shirleen
shur-LEEN
Two syllables with the weight at the back. The front is unstressed and reduces almost to nothing.
Nicknames for Shirleen
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1925
- Most girls named
- 194882 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #964reached in 1948
- Change vs 2002
- +16.7%7 in 2006, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Shirleens among us
people named Shirleen are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Shirleen sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The stress at the back gives it a decisive finish.
- The base name has a real English place behind it.
- The spelling can only be read one way.
- Shirlene and Sherleen both appear and the spelling gets queried.
- The base name is very strongly tied to one generation.
- The ending suggests an Irish connection the name does not have.
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What they receive
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Shirleen
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Shirleens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Shirleen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shirleen in 2025?
- Shirleen is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Shirleen with classmates?
- Shirleen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shirleen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Shirleen and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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