Given name
Sherly
“from the bright clearing”
Sherly is a variant of Shirley. One English interpretation is “from the bright clearing.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Sherly is a variant of Shirley. One English interpretation is “from the bright clearing.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Sherly is a variant of Shirley. An origin associated with Shirley is English.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1952. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Sherly is a variant of Shirley. The history of Shirley gives this family its wider story. Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley gives its heroine a name her parents had chosen while expecting a boy. The novel helped establish feminine use, and the child actor Shirley Temple added another influential association in the 1930s and 1940s.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Sherly through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,062
- 0 boys · 1,062 girls
- Most popular year
- 2008
- 50 babies
- 2025
- 12
- #8,795 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +17%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 12 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 8,795 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 16.7% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 50 in 2008. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,181 as a first name 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 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
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