Pearline
Feminine · “pearl”
Pearline is a gem name with an ending bolted on. Pearl arrived in English naming with Ruby, Opal and Beryl in the nineteenth century, and the -ine ending was the standard American way to turn a one-syllable word into a name with a shape. The word pearl itself has a Latin source that has never been agreed on.
How old is the name Pearline?
Pearline first appears in US birth records in 1889 — 136 years ago. The typical Pearline alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 2,200 people named Pearline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pearline most popular?
Pearline peaked in 1933, reaching #485 nationally. See the whole 1933 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From perla to Pearline
The story of Pearline
Gem names entered English naming as a group and behaved as one: Ruby, Pearl, Opal, Beryl, Garnet and Jewel all rose and fell in the same decades. Pearl was among the most used. The -ine ending then did what it did to a dozen other short names of the period, adding a syllable and a French look — Pearline, Earline, Charline, Maxine. The result is a name that is half English word and half French suffix, which describes a great deal of American naming in that generation.
Meaningscholars disagree
pearl
English pearl comes through Old French perle from a Latin word, and which Latin word is argued: perna, a leg-of-mutton shellfish whose shape the pearl oyster resembles, is the leading candidate, and a diminutive of pirum, a pear, has also been proposed for the shape. Neither is settled. The Greek margarites, which gives Margaret, is a completely separate word for the same object — so English has two unrelated pearl names and most people assume they are one.
How the name formed
- perla
- pearl
- Pearl
- Pearline
Related forms: Perline · Perla · Perla
Pronouncing Pearline
PURR-leen
PURR-leen, two syllables, main stress at the front and a secondary one at the end. Some say pur-LEEN with the weight fully at the back, following the French ending, and both are in ordinary use.
Nicknames for Pearline
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
- 1889
- Most girls named
- 1927187 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #485reached in 1933
- Change vs 1996
- −37.5%5 in 2016, from 8
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.
Pearline in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Perline in French — same name
- Perla in Italian — related form
- Perla in Spanish — related form
Pearlines among us
people named Pearline 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
Pearline 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
- Pearl is available inside it as a complete and familiar name.
- The -ine ending is written the way it is said, which -yn and -in are not.
- The gem behind it needs no explanation to anyone.
- The stress falls in two places depending on the speaker, so the name is said two ways.
- Pearlene, Perline and Pearline are all in the record and close in sound.
- It belongs firmly to an earlier American century and has not come back the way Pearl has.
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What they receive
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Pearline
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Pearlines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Pearline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pearline in 2025?
- Pearline is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Pearline with classmates?
- Pearline 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 Pearline? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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