Given name & surname
Curly
“having great strength”
Curly is a variant of Curley. One English interpretation is “having great strength.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Curly is a variant of Curley. One English interpretation is “having great strength.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Curly is a variant of Curley. An origin associated with Curley is English.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1913. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Curly through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 236
- 230 boys · 6 girls
- Most popular year
- 1923
- 15 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 1977. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 11 in 1957. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 471 as a first name in 2020; 253 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Curly
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Curly, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Camillo
“a ceremonial attendant; a noble virgin” · “one who is born free; one who is noble”
>99% boys
Carlyle
“from the fort at Luguvalium”
82% boys · 18% girls
Urban
“city-dweller” · “from the city”
>99% boys
Caldwell
“of the cold well” · “from the cold spring”
>99% boys
Harlin
“an athletic woman” · “from the army”
73% boys · 27% girls
Constantino
“one who is steadfast; firm”
>99% boys
Cosimo
“the order of the universe”
>99% boys
Rubin
“behold, a son!”
>99% boys