Pearl
Feminine · “pearl”
Pearl is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 159,088 girls against 3,922 boys since 1880. See Pearl as a boy name
Pearl came into English straight from the jewel, one of the gem names that swept in together — Ruby, Opal, Beryl, Pearl. It is a single syllable, spelled exactly like the word, and it has been affectionately stretched to Pearlie for as long as it has been in use. Today a child called Pearl will almost certainly be the only one in her class.
How old is the name Pearl?
Pearl was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Pearl alive today was born around 1918, making them about 107 years old. About 28,500 people named Pearl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pearl most popular?
Pearl peaked in 1889, reaching #24 nationally. Today it ranks #776, 752 places below that high. See the whole 1889 chart.
Where it comes from
From perla (Medieval Latin) to Pearl
The story of Pearl
The word traveled from Medieval Latin perla through Old French perle into Middle English, where it named the gem before it ever named a person. One of the great Middle English poems is itself called Pearl — a fourteenth-century elegy by the poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which a grieving father calls his lost daughter his pearl. Nathaniel Hawthorne gave the name to Hester Prynne's daughter in The Scarlet Letter in 1850, just ahead of the Victorian and Edwardian enthusiasm for jewel names, when Pearl went from word to widely given name across the English-speaking world. It has stayed in use, quietly, ever since.
Meaning
pearl — the gemstone
The English name is simply the word for the gem. There is a second road in: Greek margarites, the source of Margaret, also means pearl, which is why Pearl long served as an English nickname for Margaret.
How the name formed
- perlaMedieval Latin
- perleOld French
- Pearl
Related forms: Perla · Perla · Perle · Perel · Pérola · Margarita
Pronouncing Pearl
PURL
One syllable, rhyming with girl. It is a homophone of purl, the knitting stitch, which is the only real spelling confusion to expect.
Nicknames for Pearl
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19184,521 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #24reached in 1889
- Change vs 2022
- −8.4%350 in 2025, from 382
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Pearl in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Perla in Spanish — same name
- Perla in Italian — same name
- Perle in French — same name
- Perel in Yiddish — same name
- Pérola in Portuguese — related form
- Margarita in Greek — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Pearls among us
people named Pearl are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,592 born in 2025 was named Pearl
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Pearl sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Pearl is headed
Pearl should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Pearl beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Pearl in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled exactly like the everyday English word, so it is almost never misspelled once heard.
- One syllable, easy to say in a single breath and easy to pair with longer middle names.
- Recognizable across languages with barely a change: Perla, Perle, Pérola.
- A documented diminutive already in place — Pearlie — with over a century of real use behind it.
- A long, unbroken written record, from a fourteenth-century Middle English poem to today's birth records.
- Most people carrying this name in the US are of an older generation, so it is likely to be heard as a name from that era rather than a new one. That reads as heritage to some ears and as dated to others; the balance is shifting back toward heritage.
- One syllable leaves nothing to shorten. Pearlie exists, but a child who wants a very different everyday name has few options built in.
- The pearl images in English are plentiful — pearls before swine, pearl-clutching, Pearl Harbor. None are hostile, but the word carries associations the way any real-word name does.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Pearl to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Pearl
Feminine · #776 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Pearls are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 28,500 people named Pearl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pearl in 2025?
- Pearl ranks #776 among US girl names in 2025, with 350 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Pearl?
- About 1 in every 4,592 US girls born in 2025 was named Pearl — 350 in all.
- Will my child share the name Pearl with classmates?
- Pearl will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Pearl
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Inaya#776 · Celia#774 · Fallon#778 · Luella#778 · Evelina#778 · Malaya#774 · Ruthie#778 · Dulce#770
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pearl? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pearl and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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