The girl's name Shirley \sh(ir)-ley\ is pronounced SURE-lee. It is of Old English origin, and its meaning is "bright meadow". Place name. Made famous by child actress and American ambassador Shirley Temple-Black. Actress Shirley MacLaine; politician Shirley Chisholm; novelist Shirley Hazzard.

Origin of the name Shirley:
Transferred use fo the surname originating from the English place-name Shirley, which is derived from the Old English elements scire (shire) or scīr (bright, clear) and lēah (wood, clearing, meadow, enclosure). The name makes reference to the open space where the moot (an early English assembly of freeman which met to administer justice and discuss community issues) was held. Shirley was originally a male name, but its use in Charlotte Bronë's novel Shirley (1849) established it as a female name.

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