Shirl
Shirl was last recorded in 1983, when 5 babies were given it; 1,771 Americans have been recorded with it between 1915 and 1983 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,240 Americans named Shirl and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (70% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 61 and 68.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Shirl by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Shirl mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Shirl is “a short form of the female given name Shirley.”
/ʃɝl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Shirl?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #11,778, in 1983; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
216 babies in 1964, the peak
Shirl peaked in 1964, when 216 babies were given it (210 girls, #715 among girls’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 5 | #11,778 | under 5 | |
| 1982 | 5 | #12,024 | under 5 | |
| 1981 | 5 | #11,903 | under 5 | |
| 1980 | 8 | #8,053 | under 5 | |
| 1979 | 8 | #7,936 | under 5 | |
| 1977 | 6 | #9,452 | under 5 | |
| 1976 | 6 | #9,062 | under 5 | |
| 1975 | 16 | #4,102 | under 5 | |
| 1974 | 7 | #7,550 | under 5 | |
| 1973 | 17 | #3,769 | under 5 |
Every recorded year (67)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 25 | #2,817 | under 5 | |
| 1971 | 20 | #3,351 | under 5 | |
| 1970 | 19 | #3,419 | under 5 | |
| 1969 | 37 | #2,098 | under 5 | |
| 1968 | 29 | #2,287 | under 5 | |
| 1967 | 49 | #1,637 | under 5 | |
| 1966 | 60 | #1,428 | 5 | #4,451 |
| 1965 | 91 | #1,108 | under 5 | |
| 1964 | 210 | #715 | 6 | #3,974 |
| 1963 | 152 | #851 | under 5 | |
| 1962 | 72 | #1,313 | under 5 | |
| 1961 | 50 | #1,608 | under 5 | |
| 1960 | 46 | #1,669 | 7 | #3,615 |
| 1959 | 43 | #1,691 | 9 | #3,012 |
| 1958 | 42 | #1,673 | 9 | #3,002 |
| 1957 | 38 | #1,778 | under 5 | |
| 1956 | 24 | #2,313 | 7 | #3,501 |
| 1955 | 21 | #2,460 | 6 | #3,830 |
| 1954 | 29 | #1,979 | 6 | #3,758 |
| 1953 | 20 | #2,420 | under 5 | |
| 1952 | 33 | #1,740 | 10 | #2,655 |
| 1951 | 14 | #2,915 | 8 | #3,037 |
| 1950 | 24 | #1,996 | 7 | #3,280 |
| 1949 | 12 | #3,152 | 14 | #2,110 |
| 1948 | 14 | #2,816 | 11 | #2,426 |
| 1947 | 13 | #3,049 | 13 | #2,235 |
| 1946 | 14 | #2,721 | 10 | #2,518 |
| 1945 | 8 | #3,640 | 6 | #3,285 |
| 1944 | 9 | #3,347 | 10 | #2,451 |
| 1943 | under 5 | 16 | #1,896 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 16 | #1,854 | |
| 1941 | 5 | #4,994 | 14 | #1,985 |
| 1940 | under 5 | 11 | #2,303 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 18 | #1,626 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 22 | #1,471 | |
| 1937 | 5 | #4,842 | 14 | #1,978 |
| 1936 | under 5 | 11 | #2,284 | |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,809 | 15 | #1,911 |
| 1934 | 7 | #3,754 | 10 | #2,540 |
| 1933 | under 5 | 13 | #2,082 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 7 | #3,329 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 10 | #2,625 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 7 | #3,543 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 8 | #3,216 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 8 | #3,318 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 8 | #3,409 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 9 | #3,108 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 11 | #2,725 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 8 | #3,463 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 10 | #2,911 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 9 | #3,212 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 7 | #3,815 | |
| 1920 | under 5 | 9 | #3,177 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 8 | #3,346 | |
| 1918 | under 5 | 7 | #3,665 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 7 | #3,500 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 11 | #2,433 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Shirl a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,771 Americans recorded as Shirl, 75% are girls and 25% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Shirl: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Shirl, and how old are they?
1,240 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 70% of the 1,771 Americans ever recorded as Shirl. The median Shirl alive today is 63 years old; half are between 61 and 68.
The 2020 Census counted 1,575 people named Shirl (1,384 women and girls, 191 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,350 born in the U.S. The Census count is 17% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Shirl rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 61 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 797 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 366 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 14 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 2,776 babies since 1880, Shirl is the most given (64% of them).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Shirl
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1910-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Gwyn | 2,414 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Shirl and names like it
- Compare Shirl and ShirelBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sShirl peaked in 1964.
- Pennsylvania’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Shirl since 1910.
- The top names of 1964The year the most babies were named Shirl.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Shirl alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with SMost given first.