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Pearl

girl name
Origin
English
Syllables
1
Peak era
1890s/1900s
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Pearl and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

pearl gem

The story

Pearl S. Buck grew up between languages. Born in the United States and raised in China by missionary parents, she learned Chinese and English, then wrote novels that brought Chinese rural life to many Western readers. Her work won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Later she helped open Welcome House, an adoption agency created to find families for children who faced racial barriers elsewhere. None of that explains the gemstone word itself, which English adopted as a given name for the luminous object formed inside a mollusk. Buck gives the name a human story beyond polish. Her life involved translation, imperfect crossings between cultures, and practical work for children who did not fit existing systems. A Pearl is not promised literary talent or quiet elegance. The association instead asks what can form around difficulty and what a person might build after being shaped by more than one world.

More names with stories →

How popular is Pearl around the world?

In the United States, 2,170 babies were named Pearl between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 180 girls named Pearl were born in 2025, the 258th most common name among girls that year.

Pearl is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland, South Australia, Canada and France.

United States

1 in 10,000

In the United States, 2,170 babies were named Pearl between 2020 and 2025.

peak 1890s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Pearl peaked in the 1890s and the 1900s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Pearl has stayed between 1,505 and 4,915 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

England and Wales

1 in 3,300

In England and Wales, 180 girls named Pearl were born in 2025, the 258th most common name among girls that year.

1996peak 2019

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

Ireland

1 in 3,600

In Ireland, 15 girls named Pearl were born in 2025, the 273rd most common name among girls that year.

1964peak 2020

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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Scotland

1 in 5,100

In Scotland, 9 girls named Pearl were registered in 2024, the 351st most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

See the full list for Scotland →

South Australia

1 in 6,100 · 2017

In South Australia, 3 girls were registered as Pearl in 2017.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

Canada

1 in 8,900

In Canada, 41 girls named Pearl were born in 2024, the 708th most common name among girls that year.

1991peak 2023

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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France

1 in 64,000

In France, about 10 girls named Pearl were born in 2025, ranked 3,188th among girls that year.

1960peak 2013

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

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Austria

last on record 2023

Pearl is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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Montevideo City

last on record 1956

Pearl is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

New Zealand

last on record 2024

Pearl is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.

peak 19082025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

See the full list for New Zealand →

Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Pearl

People given the name Pearl in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1940 to 2019. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Pearl

Hazel Birdie Ivy Elma Lorene Mae

Where Pearl travels

Chinese American · pearl, the gem; a classic across generations, its warmth echoes 珍珠 (zhēnzhū, "pearl") in Chinese

Dual-language · chosen by many Chinese American families because it translates 珍珠 (zhēnzhū, "pearl") exactly, and by Vietnamese American families for the same reason via Châu (pearl); a real semantic match, not just a nice sound

Keep exploring

Dual-language baby names · Chinese American baby names · Familiar but never popular

The Pearl deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Pearl truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Pearl fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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