Pearlene
Feminine · “a pearl”
Pearlene exists because Pearl was taken. When a plain word-name becomes common enough that a family wants a version of it that is theirs, the usual move is to attach an ending, and the decades this name belongs to had a very productive one available. Pearlie and Pearline came out of the same pressure.
How old is the name Pearlene?
Pearlene first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Pearlene alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 900 people named Pearlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pearlene most popular?
Pearlene peaked in 1934, reaching #875 nationally. See the whole 1934 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Pearl to Pearlene
The story of Pearlene
The gem at the front is the only one that arrives finished. Every other precious stone comes out of the ground as a rough lump and has to be cut and polished before it looks like anything; a pearl is produced complete, with its luster already on it, by an animal defending itself against an irritant. That is why pearls were valued so extravagantly in the ancient world and why they turn up in every list of treasures from Rome to the Gospels — they required no craft at all, only the finding, which made them seem less like a product than a gift.
Meaning
a pearl, with an ending carrying no sense
The stem is the ordinary English word for the gem. The ending adds nothing translatable; it marks the word as a name and distinguishes it from the many other people already using the plain form.
How the name formed
- Pearl
- Pearlene
Pronouncing Pearlene
PUR-leen
Two syllables with the weight at the back, the same shape as Charlene and Darlene. The first syllable is reduced almost to nothing.
Nicknames for Pearlene
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
- 1906
- Most girls named
- 193864 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #875reached in 1934
- Change vs 1970
- −11.1%8 in 1978, from 9
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.
Pearlenes among us
people named Pearlene 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
Pearlene sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete, pleasant and needs no explaining.
- Pearl sits inside it as a plainer and completely established short form.
- The stress at the back gives it a decisive finish.
- It dates to a narrow stretch of years and carries that period plainly.
- Pearline and Pearlie are both in use and get substituted.
- The generation that used it is now very old.
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What they receive
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Pearlene
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Pearlenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Pearlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pearlene in 2025?
- Pearlene is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Pearlene with classmates?
- Pearlene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Patricia#1334 · Pamela#2239 · Phyllis#11932 · Peggy#8362 · Paula#853 · Pauline#2957 · Pearl#776 · Paige#346
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pearlene? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pearlene and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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