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Curley

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Curley has been given to 3,124 babies in the U.S. since 1881. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1944, with 68 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 83% boys, 17% girls all-time.

Babies named Curley, 2003

1 in 760,000

Curley over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Curley over time

In 2003, Curley went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

18812003

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Curley: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Curley means

Curley is a given name.

The naming story behind Curley

Wikidata records Curley as a male given name. The entity identifier is Q65548667, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,590 boys were recorded with the name Curley between 1881 and 2003. Its highest annual count was 68 in 1944; its best national rank was #490 in 1902.

In the United States, 534 girls were recorded with the name Curley between 1904 and 1964. Its highest annual count was 20 in 1919; its best national rank was #1,714 in 1908.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Curley?

Curley had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2003, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2003
1 in 760,000
5 of 3,801,425 births
Among boys only
1 in 395,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2003
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
526,991 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Curley sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2003 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 526,991 children born in 2003 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Curley. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Curleys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Curley was born before 1942 — so the typical Curley is around 83 today.

Median birth year
1942
About 83 years old
Biggest decade
1940s
17.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
6.2%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
947
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1940s — 17.6% of all recorded uses (457).

Is Curley rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1944 (68)
Years since peak
81
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
20.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#490
1902

Spellings of Curley

Curley is not the most common spelling — Corey is, with 55.2% against Curley's 0.77%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Curley is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Curley was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 5,263 boys, against 1 in 60,296 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in —).

019 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Louisiana1 in 5,263
  2. 2Mississippi1 in 20,000
  3. 3Alabama1 in 50,000
  4. 4Arkansas1 in 100,000
  5. 5North Carolina1 in 100,000
  6. 6Texas1 in 100,000
  7. 7California1 in —
  8. 8Florida1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Curley has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Curley is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Curley was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 933,367 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Louisiana1 in —
  2. 2Mississippi1 in —
  3. 3South Carolina1 in —
  4. 4Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Curley has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Notable people named Curley

People whose public names include Curley, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Curley by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#490
1902
Peak year
1944
68 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2003
All-time count
2,590
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,714
1908
Peak year
1919
20 that year
First recorded
1904
Last recorded
1964
All-time count
534
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Curley

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

CurranCurryCurrenHadleyConleyRadleyHenleyRidleyHuxleyBrileyMarleyKenleyChesleyKelleyBerkleyRipleyColeyArleyRyleyHartleyHurleyParleyHanleyBurley

Names with a curve like Curley

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Curley, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

WaymanAuthurLenwoodLintonHarrellEzellHeywardJonnieGaroldFurmanWymanMelton

Sibling names for Curley

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Curley

Top names of 1944, Curley's peak yearThe 1940s in fullOther names that peaked in 1902Boys' names starting with C