Shirley (name)
Encyclopedia
Given name
Before the publication of the novel ShirleyShirley (novel)
Shirley is an 1849 social novel by the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. It was Brontë's second published novel after Jane Eyre . The novel is set in Yorkshire in the period 1811–12, during the industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...
by Charlotte Brontë in 1849 Shirley was an uncommon, but distinctly male name and would have been a very unusual name for a woman. Today it is regarded as a distinctly female name and an uncommon male name.
The use of Shirley as a popular given name in the 1950s was emphasized through the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983...
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- Shirley (novel)Shirley (novel)Shirley is an 1849 social novel by the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. It was Brontë's second published novel after Jane Eyre . The novel is set in Yorkshire in the period 1811–12, during the industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...
, by Charlotte Brontë (1849) - Shirley AbicairShirley AbicairShirley Abicair is an Australian-born singer, musician, TV personality, actress and author.-Early life:Shirley Abicair was born in Melbourne, Australia. Some sources show her year of birth as 1935, but a contemporary account shows she was 23 or 24 on arrival in England and, as she had completed...
, entertainer and writer - Shirley AbrahamsonShirley AbrahamsonShirley S. Abrahamson is the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor of Wisconsin Patrick Lucey. Upon her appointment she was the first woman to serve on Wisconsin's high court. She served as the only woman on the court from 1976 until 1993...
, judge - Shirley BabashoffShirley BabashoffShirley Frances Babashoff is a former swimmer from the United States, who set six world records and earned a total of eight individual Olympic medals in her career...
, swimmer - Shirley BallasShirley BallasShirley Ballas is a British ballroom dancer, teacher and adjudicator. She specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles earning her the nickname, "The Queen of Latin." Shirley was first married to, and competed with, fellow Briton Sammy Stopford. They...
, dancer - Shirley BasseyShirley BasseyDame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, singer - Shirley D. BowlerShirley D. BowlerShirley Duvigneaud Bowler is a writer and editor who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 until term-limited in 2008. A Republican, she represented Louisiana House District 78, which includes her hometown of Harahan, Louisiana, in Jefferson Parish in suburban New...
[female], Louisiana Republican - Shirley CrabtreeShirley CrabtreeShirley Crabtree, Jr, better known as Big Daddy was a British professional wrestler famous for his record-breaking 64 inch chest...
, [male] British wrestler ("Big Daddy") - Shirley ClampShirley ClampShirley Natasja Clamp, is a Swedish pop singer. Because her mother is Swedish and her father is British, Shirley has dual nationality...
, Swedish pop singer - Shirley JonesShirley JonesShirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
, actress - Shirley KwanShirley KwanShirley Kwan, Kwan Suk’E, or Kwan Suk Yee is an influential Cantopop singer from Hong Kong. She first shot to fame in 1989 as a pop sensation with the hit, "Happy Are Those In Love" and was popular throughout the early to mid-90s...
, Hong Kong cantopop - Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, actress - Shirley MansonShirley MansonShirley Anne Manson is a Scottish recording artist and actress, best known internationally as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. For much of her international career Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh to the United States to record with Garbage but now lives and...
, singer, lead vocalist of the band Garbage - Shirley MuldowneyShirley MuldowneyShirley Muldowney , also known professionally as "Cha Cha" Muldowney and the "First Lady of Drag Racing", is a pioneer in professional auto racing. She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association to drive a top fuel dragster...
, first woman to receive a licence to drive a top fuel dragster by the NHRA - Shirley PovichShirley PovichShirley Lewis Povich was an American sports columnist and reporter for the Washington Post.-Biography:Povich's parents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania...
, [male] sportswriter - Shirley SherrodResignation of Shirley SherrodOn July 19, 2010, Shirley Sherrod was forced to resign from her appointed position as Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture because of video excerpts from her address to a March 2010 NAACP event, which the blogger Andrew Breitbart had posted on...
, a United States Department of AgricultureUnited States Department of AgricultureThe United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
employee who was wrongfully fired in 2010 due to a speech she made that was allegedly distorted by a conservative website. - Graeme Strachan ("Shirley" Strachan), lead singer of 1970s Australian rock band Skyhooks
- Shirley TempleShirley TempleShirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
, child actress - Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of CrosbyShirley Williams, Baroness Williams of CrosbyShirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby PC is a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister, she was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party in 1981...
, British politician - Shirley YeungShirley YeungShirley Yeung Sze-Ki, born 7 August 1978, is a Hong Kong actress under contract to the TVB television channel....
, 2001 Miss Hong Kong, TVB actress - Shirley Massie, V.I.P. living in Johns Creek, Georgia
Surname
- Shirley is a rather uncommon surnameSurnameA surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
, with pockets of Shirleys living in IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and parts of Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. A work on the genealogy of the various branches of the Shirley family was published as Stemmata Shirleiana by E.P Shirley in 1841.- Shirley is the surname of the title character in "Anne of Green GablesAnne of Green GablesAnne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
", a novelNovelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
published in 1908 by Lucy Maude Montgomery about an orphanOrphanAn orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
girl in the Canadian provinceProvinceA province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
of Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
. Notably, there are no Shirleys listed in current (2007) telephoneTelephoneThe telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
books for the entire province. It is likely Montgomery had heard the name associated with the neighboring province of Nova ScotiaNova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
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- Shirley is the surname of the title character in "Anne of Green Gables
- Bob ShirleyBob ShirleyRobert Charles Shirley is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1977 to 1987, for the San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals...
, American baseball player - Drew ShirleyDrew ShirleyAndrew Philip Shirley is a guitarist and the newest member of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. Shirley attended California Baptist University studying a Fine Arts degree with a Music minor. During that time he also started and led various school bands and shows. He had only started playing...
, guitarist - James ShirleyJames ShirleyJames Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...
(or Sherley) (1596 – 1666), English dramatist - Jerry ShirleyJerry ShirleyJerry Shirley is an English rock drummer, best known for his work with the rock band Humble Pie and appeared on all their albums...
, English drummer - Paul ShirleyPaul ShirleyPaul Murphy Shirley is an American professional basketball player, most recently a member of Unicaja Málaga in the Spanish ACB. He is also a writer, with his primary focus on his basketball experiences....
, American basketball player and writer - Randall Shirley, Award-winning Canada-based American journalist
- Simon ShirleySimon ShirleySimon Shirley is a retired decathlete from Australia, who finished in fifteenth place at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He is a two-time national champion in the men's decathlon.-Achievements:...
, Australian decathlete - Steve ShirleySteve ShirleyDame Stephanie "Steve" Shirley, DBE, FRA, FREng, FRSA, FBCS is a British businesswoman and philanthropist. She originally arrived in Britain as an unaccompanied Kindertransport child refugee. She was placed with foster parents and later re-united with her biological parents, but later claimed she...
(Dame Stephanie Shirley), UK businesswoman - William ShirleyWilliam ShirleyWilliam Shirley was a British colonial administrator who served twice as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and as Governor of the Bahamas in the 1760s...
(1694-1771), British colonial governor of Massachusetts
In fiction
- Shirley the Loon, a fictional character in Tiny Toon Adventures
- Shirley, the surname of the title character in Anne of Green GablesAnne of Green GablesAnne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
- Shirley Fenette, a character in the anime Code Geass
- Shirley Yeager from the anime Strike WitchesStrike Witchesis a mixed-media project originally created by Humikane Shimada via a series of magazine illustration columns. It was later adapted into two light novel series, three manga series, an anime OVA, a televised anime series and various video games. The story revolves around teenage girls who are...
- Shirley, a fictional character in The Jimmy Timmy Power HourThe Jimmy Timmy Power HourThe Jimmy Timmy Power Hour is a Nickelodeon television film set between The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and The Fairly OddParents universes. It premiered on Nickelodeon on May 7, 2004, and after that it was released on DVD and VHS on May 11, 2004.-Summary:Timmy Turner hasn't done his...
3 - Shirley, a hairdresser in the videogame MySimsMySimsMySims, formerly The Sims Wii and Nintendo Sims, is a video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts as a spinoff to Maxis' The Sims franchise for the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2007, then re-released for Microsoft Windows and Mobile phone in 2008.It is the first game in the...
- Shirley Fennes, a character in the videogame Tales of LegendiaTales of Legendia, is a role-playing game that was developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was released in Japan on August 25, 2005 and in the United States on February 7, 2006. Tales of Legendia's characteristic genre name is . It is the seventh mothership title in the Tales...
- Chuck Shirley, a prophet in SupernaturalSupernatural (TV series)Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
- Shirley Feeney, titular character in Lavern & Shirley
- In the 1980 movie Airplane!, the word "surely" was misinterpreted by a main character to be the name "Shirley", resulting in the quote "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley."