• otp
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    3 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

    • Lvxferre@mander.xyzM
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      3 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.