Pearl
Pronounced P ER1 L (ARPABET)
- 1 syllable
- Peaked 1918
- 145 years in use
- 2 spellings
How popular is Pearl?
Pearl is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 166,475 children — the 264th most common girls' name on record.
It peaked in 1918, went quiet for most of a century, and is climbing again. Its best single year was 1918, when 4,618 children were given it.
Two other spellings are counted in that total — Perle and Perl — because they are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Pearl and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Perle
- Perl
Characteristics
- 1 syllable
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- P ER1 L
- Stress pattern:
- 1
- Syllables:
- 1
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Pearl
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Pearl
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Pearl?
- Pearl ranks 264th among girls' names in US records, with 166,475 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 4,406.
- Is Pearl a unisex name?
- No. Pearl is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Pearl most popular?
- 1918, when 4,618 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Pearl spelled?
- Perle, Perl. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.