Shirley

Shirley is an English name transferred from a surname, which derives from the Old English elements scir, meaning bright or clear, and leah, meaning woodland clearing or meadow, together denoting a bright clearing. The name was borne almost exclusively by males until Charlotte Brontë used it for the female protagonist of her 1849 novel Shirley, after which it became firmly established as a feminine given name. Its popularity surged in the 1930s largely due to the fame of American child actress Shirley Temple. Variants and related forms include Shirlee and Shirlie.