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Curley
How to Pronounce Curley
Pronounced KUR-lee /ˈkɜːrli/Medium
Meaning: Curley as a given name draws on two threads: the descriptive English nickname for curly hair, and the Irish surname Curley, an anglicization of O Toirdhealbhaigh; neither yields a lofty meaning.Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Curley reached a handful of girls in the early twentieth century, with a small high around 1919. Used for a daughter it functioned as a bright, informal name rather than a name with settled meaning, drawing on the same curly-haired sense that made it a common nickname.
It was never common, given to only a couple dozen girls a year at its peak, and reads today as a spirited period oddity. A girl named Curley then would be past a hundred now. The name has not returned and remains tied to its early-century, nickname-name moment.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Curley mean?
It comes from the surname and nickname Curley; the surname anglicizes Irish O Toirdhealbhaigh and the nickname means curly-haired.
How do you pronounce Curley?
It is said KUR-lee /ˈkɜːrli/, two syllables with the stress on the first.
Is Curley a boy or girl name?
Curley is recorded here as a girl's name, though it is common as a surname and nickname.
How popular is Curley?
It has always been very rare, given to only a couple dozen girls a year at a small peak in the late nineteen-tens.