Perley
Masculine · “pearl”
Perley is given to both — 1,020 boys and 32 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Perley is a New England surname of French origin — from Perle or Perlée, a place or a byname built on the word for pearl.
How old is the name Perley?
Perley was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Perley alive today was born around 1923, making them about 102 years old. About 100 people named Perley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Perley most popular?
Perley peaked in 1881, reaching #332 nationally. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From perle to Perley
The story of Perley
The Perley family were among the early settlers of Massachusetts, arriving in the 1630s, and the surname is closely associated with New England. It became a given name in the nineteenth century in the same region, alongside Percy, Purley and Parley. Perley appears in American records through the period and peaked around 1890.
Meaningscholars disagree
pearl
Usually read from the Old French perle, 'pearl', as a byname or place name; the word itself descends from the Latin perna. A second route derives it from an English place name joining pere, 'pear tree', to leah, 'clearing'. Both are documented and neither is settled.
How the name formed
- perle
- Perley
Related forms: Perly · Purley · Perlé
Pronouncing Perley
PUR-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Perley and Purley are said identically.
Nicknames for Perley
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 191530 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #332reached in 1881
- Change vs 1959
- +50.0%9 in 1964, 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.
Perley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Perly in English — spelling variant
- Purley in English — spelling variant
- Perlé in French — related form
Perleys among us
people named Perley 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
Perley 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 pearl reading is concrete and attractive.
- A documented early New England family carries the name.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The origin is genuinely split between two readings.
- It reads as a surname before it reads as a given name.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century and to New England.
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What they receive
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Perley
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Perleys 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 Perley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Perley in 2025?
- Perley is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Perley with classmates?
- Perley 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 Perley? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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