<P> Shirley is a given name and a surname . Transferred use for 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 Brontë's novel Shirley (1849) established it as a female name . The name is also common in Hebrew, in which it means "song unto me" or "I have a song". </P> <Ul> <Li> Shirley Abicair, Australian singer, musician, actress, and author </Li> <Li> Shirley Abrahamson, American judge </Li> <Li> Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer </Li> <Li> Shirley Ballas, English dancer </Li> <Li> Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer </Li> <Li> Shirley Booth, American stage, film, radio, and television actress </Li> <Li> Shirley D. Bowler, American writer and editor </Li> <Li> Shirley Brifman (1935--1972), Australian prostitute and brothel madam </Li> <Li> Shirley Chisholm, first African - American woman elected to Congress </Li> <Li> Shirley Clamp, Swedish singer </Li> <Li> Shirley Crabtree, English wrestler </Li> <Li> Shirley Henderson, Scottish actress </Li> <Li> Shirley Jones, American singer and stage, film, and television actress </Li> <Li> Shirley Knight, American stage, film, and television actress </Li> <Li> Shirley Kocaçınar, Turkish - Dutch women's footballer </Li> <Li> Shirley Kwan, Hong Kong singer </Li> <Li> Shirley MacLaine, American actress </Li> <Li> Shirley Mallmann, Brazilian model </Li> <Li> Shirley Manson, Scottish singer, lead vocalist of the rock band Garbage </Li> <Li> Shirley Muldowney, first woman to receive a licence to drive a top fuel dragster by the NHRA </Li> <Li> Shirley Pitts (1934 - 1992), English fraudster and thief, the "Queen of shoplifters" </Li> <Li> Shirley Povich, American sports columnist </Li> <Li> Shirley Scott, American hard bop and soul - jazz organist </Li> <Li> Shirley Setia, New Zealander singer </Li> <Li> Shirley Sherrod, United States Department of Agriculture employee </Li> <Li> Shirley Temple, American film and television actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat </Li> <Li> Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, English politician </Li> <Li> Shirley Yeung, Hong Kong actress </Li> <Li> Shirley Zwerus or Shirley (Dutch singer) (born 1946), Dutch singer and pianist </Li> <Li> Shirley (Danish singer), Danish singer </Li> </Ul>

Where does the last name shirley come from
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