How Many People Are Named Pearl?
people named Pearl are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 12,442 people in the US has this name
Based on 163,010 babies named Pearl in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎 Rare
Peak Year
4,622 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From the English word pearl for the concretions formed in the shells of some mollusks, ultimately from Late Latin perla. Like other gemstone names, it has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. The pearl is the birthstone for June, and it supposedly imparts health and wealth.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Pearl in English. Counting Pearl and these spellings together, about 27,586 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Pearl, 98.5% were girls and 1.5% were boys. The share has stayed close to this since the 1880s: 94.8% of the babies were girls then and 100% in the 2020s.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Pearl alive today is about 51 years old, and 50% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 18 and 79 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Pearl first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1918, to 4,622 babies. In 2025, 350 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Pearl never made the top 10 girls' names. Its best rank was #24, in 1889 to 1890 and 1900, and it was in the top 100 for 47 years, 1880 to 1926. In 2025 it ranked #777.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #777 |
| Best rank | #24 (1889 to 1890 and 1900) |
| Years in the top 100 | 47 (1880 to 1926) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #56 in the 1910s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Pearl alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Pearl were born in New York than in any other state: about 3,155 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Pearl was given 2.2 times as often in Hawaii, 1.5 times in Louisiana and 1.5 times in North Dakota.
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