Pearson
Masculine · “son of Piers”
Pearson is given to both — 1,552 boys and 126 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Pearson is an English surname meaning son of Piers — and Piers was the medieval English form of Peter, which is Greek for a rock.
How old is the name Pearson?
Pearson first appears in US birth records in 1898 — 127 years ago. The typical Pearson alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 1,300 people named Pearson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pearson most popular?
Pearson peaked in 1898, reaching #1121 nationally. Today it ranks #3583, 2,462 places below that high. See the whole 1898 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From petros to Pearson
The story of Pearson
Peter arrived in England in its Norman French form as Piers, which is why Chaucer's ploughman poem is about Piers rather than Peter. Sons of a Piers became Pearson, Pierson and Pears. The surname reached America with English settlement and appears in nineteenth-century given-name records in real numbers, part of the American habit of using family names in front.
Meaning
son of Piers, that is, of Peter
From Greek petros, a stone or rock, which the gospels give as the name Jesus assigns to Simon; Norman French made Piers of it, and English added son to name the child.
How the name formed
- petros
- Piers
- Pearson
Related forms: Pierson · Pierre · Pieterse
Pronouncing Pearson
PEER-suhn
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation.
Nicknames for Pearson
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
- 1898
- Most boys named
- 201958 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1121reached in 1898
- Change vs 2023
- −24.4%31 in 2025, from 41
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.
Pearson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Pierson in English — spelling variant
- Pierre in French — related form
- Pieterse in Dutch — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, North Carolina.
Pearsons among us
people named Pearson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 55,099 born in 2025 was named Pearson
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
Pearson 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 Pearson is headed
Pearson should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Pearson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Pearson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning inherited from one of the best-documented names in existence.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Genuine nineteenth-century American use behind it.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
- Pearson and Pierson are both in use and get confused.
- A well-known Canadian prime minister and an education company both carry the surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Pearson
Masculine · #3583 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Pearsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Pearson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pearson in 2025?
- Pearson ranks #3583 among US boy names in 2025, with 31 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Pearson?
- About 1 in every 55,099 US boys born in 2025 was named Pearson — 31 in all.
- Will my child share the name Pearson with classmates?
- Pearson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Pearson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Geoffrey#3583 · Robinson#3583 · Kimani#3583 · Emre#3583 · Yoan#3583 · Anirudh#3583 · Sutter#3583 · Heber#3583
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pearson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pearson and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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