Pearl

What Pearl means

From the word “pearl”

From pearl

Source: Wiktionary, “Pearl” (revision 93673041), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Pearl?

US: Falling: down from #624 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #240 in 2015, #258 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1890, when 1,741 girls got the name (#24 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 4,592 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,407 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in ID (1.12 per 1,000 girls), NY (0.73 per 1,000 girls), OR (0.54 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Pearl is #776 in the US and #258 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Pearl were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Perla132 US · 8 E&W
• Perel52 US · 5 E&W
• Parla9 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Pearl

Girls

• Aria#26“a musical aria”^*
• Olive#197Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #47 vs #197 in 2025
• Hazel#21From the word “hazel”^*
• Violet#13From the word “violet”^*
• Scarlet#509Editor’s note Down from #376 in 2015 to #509 in 2025 in the US
• Mercy#862Editor’s note Up from #1,011 in 2015 to #862 in 2025 in the US

For a brother

• Prince#447Editor’s note Down from #386 in 2015 to #447 in 2025 in the US
• Duke#695Editor’s note Down from #601 in 2015 to #695 in 2025 in the US
• August#81“month of August”^*
• Rowan#59“little red one”^*
• Royal#476Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #476 vs #2,014 in 2025
• Alden#598“old + friend”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under English, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Pearl’s. Rank is US 2025.