Pearl (given name)

Pearl is a primarily feminine given name derived from the English word pearl, a hard, roundish object produced within the soft tissue of a living, shelled mollusk. Pearls are commonly used in jewelry-making. The pearl is the birthstone for the month of June. Pearls have been associated with innocence and modesty. Because it comes from the sea, it also has associations with the moon and with water. Pearls are also traditionally considered appropriate jewelry for debutantes and brides.

Pearl came into popular use along with other gemstone names during the late Victorian Era. It may also have been inspired by the name Margaret, which means "pearl". In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, heroine Hester Prynne names her illegitimate daughter Pearl because the child is "of great price, purchased with all she had, her mother's only treasure." The passage refers to the Parable of the Pearl in the New Testament. The gates to Heaven are also commonly pictured as made of pearl.

It was among the 50 most popular names for girls born in the United States between 1880 and 1911, remained among the top 100 most popular names for girls between 1911 and 1926 and among the top 500 most popular names for girls in the United States until 1960. It was last ranked among the top 1,000 names for girls born in the United States in 1986 before it returned to the top 1,000 in 2007, when it was ranked at No. 993. It has continued to rank among the top 1,000 names for American girls through 2021. The name was among the top 1,000 names given to boys in the United States between 1880 and 1939. The name was the 223rd most common name for women and girls in the United States in the 1990 census. Authors Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz noted in their 2007 book The Baby Name Bible that Pearl is in fashion again with hipster parents in the United States.

Pearl can also be a surname, one which is common among Jews.

Notable people

 * Pearl Aday (born 1975), American singer-songwriter.
 * Pearl Bailey (1918–1990), American singer and actress
 * Pearl Berg (1909–2024), American supercentenarian
 * Pearl Buck (1892–1973), American author and novelist
 * Pearl Chanda (born 1994), English actress
 * Pearl Charles (born 1991), American singer-songwriter
 * Pearl Connor-Mogotsi (1924–2005), Trinidadian-born theatrical and literary agent
 * Pearl Fryar (born 1940), American topiary artist
 * Zane Grey (real name Pearl Grey; 1872–1939), American author and dentist
 * Pearl Hart (1871–1955), Canadian-born outlaw of the American Old West
 * Pearl Kapur (born 1997), Indian billionaire
 * Pearl Liaison (born 1990), American drag queen
 * Pearl Lowe (born 1970), English fashion and textiles designer and singer-songwriter
 * Peal Mackie (born 1987), British actress
 * Pearl Padamsee (1931–2000), Indian actress, director and producer
 * Pearl Powell (1909–2004), Australian memoirist
 * Pearl Prescod (1920–1966), Tobagonian actress and singer
 * Pearl Primus (1919-1994), American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist.
 * Pearl V Puri (born 1989), Indian actor
 * John Oliver Hobbes (pen name of Pearl Mary Teresa Richards; 1867-1906), Anglo-American novelist and dramatist
 * Pearl Starr (1868–1925), American pimp and businesswoman
 * Pearl Thompson (born 1957), English musician and artist
 * Pearl Thusi (born 1988), South African actress, model, and presenter
 * Pearl White (1889–1938), American actress

Fictional characters

 * Pearl (One Piece), a character in the One Piece manga
 * Pearl (Steven Universe), a character from the animated series Steven Universe
 * Pearl (X), fictional character in the X film series
 * Pearl, a flapjack octopus in the Finding Nemo franchise
 * Pearl Gesner, a character from Disney's Home on the Range
 * Granny Pearl, an elderly green sea turtle on Jim Henson's Pajanimals
 * Pearl, a competitor on season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race
 * Pearl, a Little Mermaid character
 * Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
 * Pearl Fey, an Ace Attorney character
 * Pearl Forrester, a Mystery Science Theater 3000 character
 * Pearl Krabs, a SpongeBob SquarePants character
 * Pearl the Observation Car, a Starlight Express character
 * Pearl Houzuki, a character from the Splatoon franchise
 * Pearl Pureheart, a girl mouse in the Mighty Mouse franchise
 * Pearl, a character from the Pokémon Adventures manga, named after Pokémon Pearl Version
 * Pearl, a bunny in Blue's Clues & You!

Variants

 * Gyöngyi (Hungary)
 * Helmi (Finnish)
 * Pearla (English)
 * Pearle (English)
 * Pearlie (English)
 * Pearlina (English)
 * Pearline (English)
 * Perla (Italian), (Spanish)
 * Perle (French), (Norwegian)
 * Perlette (French)
 * Perley (English)
 * Perly (English)
 * Perlezenn (Breton)
 * Perlie (English)
 * Perline (French)
 * Perlita (Spanish)
 * Πέρλα (Perla) (Greek)