• @[email protected]
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    22 months ago

    Oh, wow. This comment just made me wonder if Shirley is a female bastardization of Charles through Charlie…

    It’s probably not, but I could see it being the case

    • LvxferreM
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      22 months ago

      This comment just made me wonder if Shirley is a female bastardization of Charles through Charlie…

      I gave it a check (Wiktionary is surprisingly good for this sort of stuff), and reality is even weirder:

      “Shirley” is etymologically equivalent to shire + ley. It was initially a habitational surname. Then based on the 1849 quote it was used for some time as a masculine first name. Then as a feminine one.