Shirley

Shirley is a female given name: 99% of people named Shirley are women, and it is recorded as female in 6 of the 6 countries covered.

FemaleHigh

Male 1%Female 99%

Verdict: Female
Male / female split: 1% male / 99% female
Confidence: High (64 or more weighted country observations)
Most common in: United States, Great Britain, Ireland
US births since 1880: 9,551 male / 685,222 female
Data: nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
Updated: 2026-09-11

How to address Shirley

When you do not know their gender for certain, the full name with no title is the safe choice: "Dear Shirley," in English, "Guten Tag Shirley," in German. Shirley is a female given name: about 99% of people named Shirley are women. A quick look at a profile confirms it for certain.

Ready-made greetings in six languages

English

Dear Shirley,

German

Guten Tag Shirley,

French

Bonjour Shirley,

Spanish

Estimado/a Shirley:

Chinese

Shirley您好：

Japanese

Shirley様

English

Hi Shirley,

German

Hi Shirley,

French

Salut Shirley,

Spanish

Hola Shirley,

Chinese

Shirley你好：

Japanese

Shirleyさん

Greeting generator

This is a statistical estimate, not a statement about the gender, identity or correct form of address of any particular person.

Country breakdown

Gender of the name Shirley by country (nam_dict, 55 country columns)
Country	How common	Usually	Male share
United States	very common	woman's name	1%
Great Britain	common	woman's name	2%
Ireland	uncommon	woman's name	2%
Malta	rare	woman's name	2%
Netherlands	rare	woman's name	2%
Belgium	rare	woman's name	2%

United States birth data

9,551 male · 685,222 female · 694,773 births recorded

Male 1%Female 99%

Since 1980: 0% male.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shirley a male or female name?

Shirley is a female given name: 99% of people named Shirley are women, and it is recorded as female in 6 of the 6 countries covered.

How do I address Shirley in an email?

Is Shirley a unisex name?

Shirley is not a unisex name: 1% of people named Shirley are men. Shirley leans strongly female overall.

Sources

Gender by country: nam_dict, the c't first-names dictionary by Joerg Michael, roughly 44,000 names across 55 countries, licensed GFDL. US frequencies: United States Social Security Administration baby-name data, public domain. Method: how we classify names. Full dataset: data & licences. Data built 2026-09-11.

Cite this page

DearWho, "Is Shirley a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/shirley (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.

BibTeX

@misc{dearwho_shirley,
  title  = {Is Shirley a male or female name?},
  author = {{DearWho}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/shirley},
  note   = {Data: nam_dict (GFDL), US SSA public domain}
}