Pearl

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 remained 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 rose to No. 814 by 2011 and was given to 327 American girls born in that year. 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.

---

Mid-13c., from Old French perle (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin perla (mid-13c.), of unknown origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *pernula, diminutive of Latin perna, which in Sicily meant "pearl," earlier "sea-mussel," literally "ham, haunch, gammon," so called for the shape of the mollusk shells. Other theories connect it with the root of pear, also somehow based on shape, or Latin pilula "globule," with dissimilation. The usual Latin word for "pearl" was margarita (see margarite). For pearls before swine, see swine. Pearl Harbor translates Hawaiian Wai Momi, literally "pearl waters," so named for the pearl oysters found there; transferred sense of "effective sudden attack" is attested from 1942 (in reference to Dec. 7, 1941).

---

Pearl.

Popularity	Name	Birth Year	Description
1	Pearl Lowe	1970	Singer-songwriter turned fashion and textiles designer
2	Pearl Mackie	1987	British actress
3	Pearl S. Buck	1892	American writer
4	Minnie Pearl	1912	American "country" comedienne
5	Pearl Bailey	1918	American singer
6	Pearl Thusi	1988	South African actor
7	Barry Pearl	1950	American actor
8	Pearl V Puri	1989	Indian Actor
9	Mariane Pearl	1967	French journalist
10	Bruce Pearl	1960	American college basketball coach
11	Pearl Aday	1975	American female singer
12	Pearl Hart	1871	American Old West outlaw
13	Jizzy Pearl	1958	American musician
14	Judea Pearl	1936	Computer scientist
15	Bill Pearl	1930	American bodybuilder
16	Sensi Pearl	1988	American pornographic actor
17	Cora Pearl	1835	Courtesan
18	Pearl Padamsee	1931	Indian actress
19	Michael Pearl	1945	Pastor, evangelist and author
20	Pearl Slaghoople
21	Pearl Poet		Author of Pearl, an alliterative poem written in 14th-century Middle English
22	Pearl Starr	1868	American businesswoman
23	Pearl Primus	1919	American dancer and choreographer
24	Pearl Forrester
25	Pearl Cleage	1948	American novelist
26	Pearl Ladderbanks
27	Jemina Pearl	1987	American musician
28	Porl Thompson	1957	English musician
29	Pearl Lang	1921	American dancer
30	Pearl Witherington	1914	SOE leader
31	Matthew Pearl	1975	American writer
32	Pearl Modiadie	1987	Television presenter & Actress
33	Pearl Fryar		American topiary artist
34	Pearl Hackney	1916	British actress
35	Daniel Pearl	1951	American cinematographer
36	Raymond Pearl	1879	American biogerontologist
37	Nancy Pearl	1945	American librarian and writer
38	Pearl Lam		Chinese art dealer
39	Pearl Eaton	1898	American actress
40	Pink Pearl
41	Pearl de Vere		American prostitute
42	Pearl Krabs		Main character in SpongeBob SquarePants
43	Mr Pearl	1962
44	Pearl Kendrick	1890	American bacteriologist
45	Aaron Pearl	1972	Canadian actor
46	Jack Pearl	1894	American actor
47	Pearl Williams	1914	American musician
48	Pearl Abraham	1960	Novelist, essayist, short writer
49	Leslie Pearl		American musician
50	Pearl M. Hart	1890	American lawyer
51	Pearl Gibbs	1901	Indigenous Australian activist
52	Pearl Elliott	1887	Madam
53	Pearl McBroom	1926	Research physician
54	Pearl Going	1985	New Zealand mountain climber
55	Pearl Frush	1907	American model
56	Pearl Argyle	1910	South African ballet dancer and actor (1910-1947)
57	Pearl Sinn	1967	Professional golfer
58	Anita Pearl	1987	Hungarian pornographic actor
59	Pearl Chase	1888	American civic leader
60	Pearl Binder	1904	British artist
61	Laurence Pearl	1956	British biologist
62	Pearl Laska Chamberlain	1909	American pilot
63	Pearl Bergoff	1876	American strikebreaker
64	Pearl Rivers	1843	Poet and journalist
65	Pearl Calahasen	1952	Canadian politician
66	Pearl Peden Oldfield	1876	American politician
67	Pearl Corkhill	1887	Australian Military Nurse of First World War
68	Pearl McGonigal	1929	Canadian politician
69	Pearl Vardon	1915	British Nazi propagandist
70	Pearl Carter Pace	1896	American business woman
71	Pearl Alcock		Artist and business woman
72	Valerie Pearl	1926	Historian
73	Pearl Chertok	1918	American musician
74	Tara Eden Pearl	1961	American businessman
75	Pearl Ondaatje		Sri Lankan radio personality
76	Pearl Reaves	1929
77	Pearl Connor-Mogotsi	1924	British actress
78	Pearl Luke	1958	Canadian writer
79	Pearl White	1910	American musician
80	Pearl		Japanese musician and radio host
81	J. Pearl		American singer
82	Pearl Butler	1927	American country music singer
83	Erin Pearl	1982	Figure skater
84	Phillip L. Pearl	1958	American neurologist
85	Pearl Sagar	1958	British politician
86	Pearl McIver	1893	American nurse
87	David Pearl	1944	British lawyer
88	Pearl I. Young	1895	Physicist, technical editor
89	Pearl van der Wissel	1984	Dutch handball player
90	Pearl Vasudevi	1915	Sri Lankan actress
91	Pearl Tan		Australian actress
92	Pearl London	1916	American writer
93	Pearl Bowser	1931	American author, director, producer
94	Pearl Schiff	1916	American author
95	Cyril Pearl	1906	Writer
96	Pearl Moore
97	Pearl Future
98	Pearl Van Sciver	1896	American artist
99	Pearl G. Curran	1875	American songwriter
100	Pearl Casias		Southern Ute tribal leader
101	Pearl Kgomotso Kupe
102	Pearl Stewart		American newspaper editor
103	Pearl Webster	1889	Negro League Baseball player
104	Elisha Pearl	1819	American politician
105	Pearl Alice Marsh
106	Pearl Howard Dawson	1887	Veterinarian, hockey and cricket player, sports administrator
107	Pearl Eytinge
108	Pearl King	1918	British psychoanalyst
109	Pearl Fuller		American football player and coach
110	Pearl Akanya Ofori	1984	Ghanaian Broadcast journalist
111	Pearl Long Cullen	1890	American politician
112	Pearl Hoel	1905
113	Mary C. Pearl
114	Paul Pearl
115	Pearl Savin	1914	Cricketer
116	Pearl Jozefzoon	1985	Dutch singer
117	Dyer Pearl	1857	American businessman
118	Pearl Kibre	1900
119	Pearl T. Robinson	1945
120	Pearl Etienne	1982
121	Pearl Williams-Jones
122	Pearl Berg	1928
123	Harry La Pearl	1884	American circus artist and actor
124	Howard Pearl
125	Pearl Perlmuter	1915	Dutch sculptor
126	Pearl Aguilar	1994
127	Pearl Goss	1910	Badminton player