Pearlie
Masculine · “pearl”
Pearlie is given to both — 699 boys and 18,129 girls since 1880. See Pearlie as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Pearlie is a gem name with an affectionate ending, from the decades when that ending was attached to almost anything and marked no sex at all. The material it names supported an entire American industry that has vanished so completely most people have never heard of it.
How old is the name Pearlie?
Pearlie first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Pearlie alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 100 people named Pearlie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pearlie most popular?
Pearlie peaked in 1881, reaching #706 nationally. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From perla to Pearlie
The story of Pearlie
For about sixty years the button industry of the world ran on freshwater mussels from the upper Mississippi. A German immigrant working in Muscatine, Iowa, discovered that the shells of the local mussels took a pearly polish as good as the sea shells being imported, and within a decade the river towns were full of factories punching blanks out of shells with tube saws. At its height the trade employed tens of thousands of people, boats dragged the riverbed with hooked bars, and mountains of drilled shell were dumped on the banks. It collapsed twice: first because the mussel beds were fished out faster than they could recover, and then finally because plastic buttons cost a fraction as much. The holes in the discarded shells are still turned up along the river, and several of the mussel species never came back.
Meaning
pearl
The English word for the gem, with the familiar ending the nineteenth century added freely to names. Whether a given family meant it as a pet form of Pearl or registered it as the full name is not recorded, and both happened.
How the name formed
- perla
- Pearl
- Pearlie
Pronouncing Pearlie
PUR-lee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The ea says the vowel of her, which is one of the few things that pair does reliably before an r.
Nicknames for Pearlie
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
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 192823 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #706reached in 1881
- Change vs 1962
- 0.0%6 in 1966, from 6
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.
Pearlies among us
people named Pearlie 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
Pearlie 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 a real object and needs no explaining to anybody.
- Pearl comes off it as a short form and is a complete name.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- Pearly and Perlie are both recorded and will be written for it.
- It reads as belonging firmly to one generation and one region.
- The affectionate ending suits some working lives better than others.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Pearlie to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Pearlie? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Pearlie
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Pearlies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Pearlie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pearlie in 2025?
- Pearlie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Pearlie with classmates?
- Pearlie 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 Pearlie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pearlie and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle