Pecola
Feminine
Pecola is a rare American name with no documented origin, and it carries one very heavy literary association: a novel about a girl who wants blue eyes, which is among the most frequently challenged books in American schools and among the most frequently taught.
How old is the name Pecola?
Pecola first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Pecola alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 200 people named Pecola are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pecola most popular?
Pecola peaked in 1912, reaching #1178 nationally. See the whole 1912 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Pecola
The novel is short and it is about a child who is told, continuously and by everybody, that she is ugly, and who concludes that what she needs is blue eyes. It was a first novel, it sold poorly, and it is now on syllabuses across the country and near the top of every list of books that parents petition to have removed, usually on grounds that describe the book's subject matter accurately and its purpose not at all. A name attached to a book like that is carrying something. It is worth knowing before rather than after, because the association will come up in a classroom eventually, and it is better for a child to have been told at home than to meet it cold in ninth grade.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source has been documented. The name appears in American records without explanation, and the novel that made it widely known is not necessarily its origin; the record holds the name in periods that do not line up neatly with the book.
Pronouncing Pecola
puh-KOH-luh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. PEK-uh-luh is also heard and the spelling does not decide.
Nicknames for Pecola
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
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 192028 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1178reached in 1912
- Change vs 1981
- −28.6%5 in 1987, 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.
Pecolas among us
people named Pecola 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
Pecola 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
- Three open syllables with nothing difficult in them, easy to say and easy to hear.
- It is genuinely rare, which very few names of any period can honestly claim.
- The stress falls where an English reader expects it, so first attempts usually land correctly.
- The literary association is strong and the character's story is a painful one, which anyone who has read the book will remember.
- Two pronunciations are in circulation and the spelling settles neither.
- No origin is documented, so the meaning question has nothing to answer with.
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Pecola
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Pecolas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Pecola are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pecola in 2025?
- Pecola is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Pecola with classmates?
- Pecola 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 Pecola? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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