Perry
Feminine · “pear tree”
Perry is given to both — 3,691 girls and 76,044 boys since 1880. See Perry as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Perry is the pear tree — the Old English pirige — or a form of Peregrine, a traveler, and the two have been mixed for centuries.
How old is the name Perry?
Perry first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Perry alive today was born around 1992, making them about 33 years old. About 2,900 people named Perry are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Perry most popular?
Perry peaked in 1883, reaching #817 nationally. Today it ranks #2214, 1,397 places below that high. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From pirige to Perry
The story of Perry
Perry the drink is fermented pear juice, from the same word as the surname. Peregrinus meant someone from beyond the fields — per ager — and gives both 'peregrine' and 'pilgrim'. Perry became an American given name for both sexes; feminine use appears in the registers in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
pear tree; or traveler
Two routes. From the Old English pirige, 'pear tree', giving a locational surname and the cider-like drink perry. Or a short form of Peregrine, from the Latin peregrinus, 'traveler' or 'foreigner', which also gives 'pilgrim'. Both are genuine and neither dominates.
How the name formed
- pirige
- Perry
Related forms: Perrie · Peregrine
Pronouncing Perry
PER-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Perry
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
- 1883
- Most girls named
- 2022102 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #817reached in 1883
- Change vs 2022
- −18.6%83 in 2025, from 102
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.
Perry in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Perrie in English — spelling variant
- Peregrine in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Texas, California.
Perrys among us
people named Perry are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 19,365 born in 2025 was named Perry
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Perry
- #2214
- Perry on the 2025 chart
- #829
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Perry went to 83 girls in 2025, but Perri and Peri are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 131, which makes it the 829th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,385 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 12,269 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 19,365 for Perry itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Perry 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 Perry is headed
Perry 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.
Perry beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Perry in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That peregrine and pilgrim come from 'beyond the fields' is a first-rate etymology.
- The pear-tree meaning is concrete and pleasant.
- Peregrine is available as a grand formal version.
- It reads as masculine to most English speakers.
- The origin is genuinely split between two routes.
- Several public figures dominate the association.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Perry
Feminine · #2214 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Perrys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,900 people named Perry are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Perry?
- Perry is the most-used spelling in US records — 83 of the 131 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Perri and Peri.
- How popular is the name Perry in 2025?
- Perry ranks #2214 among US girl names in 2025, with 83 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Perry?
- About 1 in every 19,365 US girls born in 2025 was named Perry — 83 in all.
- Will my child share the name Perry with classmates?
- Perry will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Perry
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hania#2214 · Nava#2214 · Bea#2214 · Lyana#2214 · Mahira#2214 · Lanie#2214 · Alorah#2214 · Katrina#2214
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Perry? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Perry and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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