Pearl
Masculine · “pearl”
Pearl is given to girls far more often — 159,088 girls against 3,922 boys since 1880. See Pearl as a girl name
Pearl was given to boys in nineteenth-century America in real numbers — one of a group of gem and virtue words that had not yet been sorted by sex, and that the twentieth century sorted decisively.
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 400 people named Pearl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pearl most popular?
Pearl peaked in 1886, reaching #182 nationally. See the whole 1886 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From perla to Pearl
The story of Pearl
Word names drawn from gems became fashionable in the nineteenth century — Ruby, Opal, Pearl, Beryl — and in America they were given to both sexes for a time, alongside Cleo, Dell and Merle. Southern naming in particular treated them as available to sons. Pearl held a place in the American top two hundred for boys in the early 1880s and had effectively left masculine use within two generations, as the whole category settled to girls.
Meaning
pearl
The English word, from the Old French perle and ultimately from a Latin term for a sea-mussel. The pearl was the most valuable gem in the ancient Mediterranean, more so than diamond, which is why it appears so often in scripture as an image of something beyond price.
How the name formed
- perla
- perle
- pearl
- Pearl
Related forms: Perla · Perla · Perle · Margarites
Pronouncing Pearl
PURL
One syllable. Identical to the ordinary English noun, and to the knitting term spelled purl.
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 boys named
- 1918101 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #182reached in 1886
- Change vs 1977
- −28.6%5 in 1983, from 7
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 — related form
- Perla in Italian — related form
- Perle in French — related form
- Margarites in Greek — related form
Pearls among us
people named Pearl are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Pearl has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete and needs no explanation in any language.
- One syllable, plain and never mispronounced.
- It carries a genuine and now largely forgotten piece of American naming history.
- In modern English the name reads as unambiguously feminine.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century.
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What they receive
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Pearl
Masculine
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 400 people named Pearl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pearl in 2025?
- Pearl is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Pearl with classmates?
- Pearl will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pearl? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pearl and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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