Perry
Masculine · Old English roots · “pear tree”
Perry is given to both — 76,044 boys and 3,691 girls since 1880. See Perry as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Perry began as a way of saying where someone lived — by the pear tree — and it has been traveling as a name ever since, on both sides of the Atlantic. Two syllables, no silent letters, a bright vowel and an easy ending: it is the kind of name that gets spelled right the first time. It is also the short form waiting inside longer names like Peregrine.
How old is the name Perry?
Perry was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Perry alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 47,000 people named Perry are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Perry most popular?
Perry peaked in 1880, reaching #100 nationally. Today it ranks #1370, 1,270 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Perry appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From pirige (Old English, 'pear tree') to Perry
The story of Perry
Perry reached first-name status the long way round, through the surname. In medieval England, people were identified by landmarks, and someone living at the pear tree became atte Pirie, then Perry. In Wales a different line arrived at nearly the same spelling: ap Harry, 'son of Harry', worn down to Parry and Perry. Later, as English speakers took up family surnames as given names, Perry crossed over — helped along by its usefulness as a nickname for Peregrine and Percival, which is how many a formal Peregrine has been called since.
Meaningscholars disagree
'pear tree', or 'son of Harry'
Two solid readings sit behind the same spelling. The English one is topographic: Middle English pirie, 'pear tree', so an ancestor lived or worked beside one. The Welsh one is ap Harry, 'son of Harry', which also gave the surname Parry. Separately, Perry serves as a short form of Peregrine, from Latin peregrinus, 'traveler, pilgrim'.
How the name formed
- pirigeOld English, 'pear tree'
- atte Pirie / PirieMiddle English
- PerryEnglish surname
- Perrygiven name
Related forms: Parry · Peregrine · Perri
Pronouncing Perry
PERR-ee
Rhymes with merry. In American accents where merry and marry sound alike, Perry and Parry can be hard to tell apart by ear.
Nicknames for Perry
Limited
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
- 19602,415 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #100reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −1.5%135 in 2025, from 137
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
- Parry in Welsh — related form
- Peregrine in English — related form
- Perri in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Perrys among us
people named Perry are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 12,652 born in 2025 was named Perry
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
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.
High 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 boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spells and sounds itself: two syllables, no silent letters, nothing for a receptionist or a teacher to query.
- A documented record stretching back to medieval England and Wales as a surname, and a long run as a given name since.
- Works in reverse as a nickname: parents who want a longer name on the birth certificate can use Peregrine or Percival and land on Perry anyway.
- Familiar on both sides of the Atlantic, and comfortable as a first name or a surname.
- The living Perrys skew strongly toward older generations, so it may read as a name from a grandparent's era rather than a playground one. That cuts both ways — it is also why a young Perry stands out.
- Because it is a surname first, Perry is sometimes heard as a last name, and a Perry with a surname-like surname can get filed under the wrong column on forms.
- Perry is also an English word for pear cider, an old and pleasant one, but worth knowing about.
- In much of the US, expect to say it twice near anyone named Parry — the two collapse together in many accents.
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What they receive
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Perry
Masculine · Old English roots · #1370 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 47,000 people named Perry are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Perry in 2025?
- Perry ranks #1370 among US boy names in 2025, with 135 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Perry?
- About 1 in every 12,652 US boys born in 2025 was named Perry — 135 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.
Jaire#1370 · Shaya#1370 · Rolando#1370 · Baron#1370 · Jakob#1370 · Holland#1366 · Bohdi#1366 · Jeriah#1366
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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