Name of the Day: Pearl
She’s simple, elegant and so much more than just a gemstone name.
Thanks to Kate for suggesting today’s Name of the Day: Pearl.
If you’re expecting a summer baby, Pearl might make your short list - she’s the birthstone for June. Like many a precious gem, she was first widely used as a girl’s name in the nineteenth century. In the US, Pearl ranked as high as #24 in the 1890s.
With other late nineteenth century chart toppers like Grace and Emma back in fashion, why not Pearl?
Just like any self-respecting gemstone, a beautiful pearl is rare. They’re produced by oysters. In nature, a bit of sand slips inside the oyster’s shell. An elegant defense system coats the grain with a shiny substance as a barrier. Instead of diving down and prying open every oyster hoping for a jackpot, today most pearls are farmed. The oysters are still employed, but the sand is slipped in on purpose.
So pearls come from oysters, but the word “pearl” is a little harder to trace.
The Old French was perle, and is first recorded in the 1200s. But the usual Latin was margarita, from the Greek margarites - the source of the classic Margaret. Theories abound, linking pearl to words for similar shapes. There’s the Old English pere, for pear and the Sicilian perna, or ham. We just don’t know for certain.
Nonetheless, we’ve been wearing pearls forever. The earliest record goes back to China, circa 2300 BC. Royalty used to sew them into their clothing. They’ve been crushed up as cosmetics.
The Pearl of Great Price is a New Testament parable. According to Matthew, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to the costliest pearl. This makes Pearl a subtle spiritual choice.
The story echoes in literature. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, adulteress Hester Prynne names her daughter Pearl. John Steinbeck wrote a novella called The Pearl - his hero was a poor pearl diver searching for one perfect gem to pay medical bills for his son.
Then there’s Pearl S. Buck, the Pulitzer Prize winning American writer raised in China by missionary parents. She’s best known for her enduring 1931 novel The Good Earth.
While pearls are elegant, even prissy, the name has acquired something of an edge in recent years. Pearl Jam emerged from Seattle’s grunge scene to become one of the most influential bands of the decade. And let’s not overlook Minnie Pearl, she of the Grand Ole Opry and Hee Haw fame. If the rock band lends Pearl an edge, the country comedienne gives her a certain spunk.
Some parents have been tempted to use Perla – the Italian and Spanish version of Pearl. It’s an appealing sound, but be warned – La Perla is an elegant designer of lacy lingerie. At #405, Perla is also far more common than the English version.
While Pearl has much to recommend her, she has remained unranked in the US since 1986. This either signals that she’s still not ready for a comeback, or creates the perfect opportunity to use a widely-known name that is rarely heard.
Filed under: Jewels and gemstones, Literary Babes, Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Nature Babes, Summer, Sweet P | 12 Comments
Tags: Margaret, Pearl, Perla
-
Recent Comments
Julie on 3 Things I’ve Learned Ab… Names4Real on 3 Things I’ve Learned Ab… SG on 3 Things I’ve Learned Ab… Rachel on 3 Things I’ve Learned Ab… Kelly on 3 Things I’ve Learned Ab…
Not to mention Pearl, the landlord – she’s nasty. She’s also Jeremy Piven’s neice.
I think Pearl is an excellent name. It’s certainly feminine, but not too “girly.” Edgy, but not tough. Short, but not abrubt! Also, just unusual enough.
I love Pearl! She’s feminine, she’s classy and she is my favorite gem name . I did not realize she has not ranked in the last 20 years. She’s wonderful on a little girl, a grown woman, or a great-grandmother.
I think Pearl’s sweet. I too think she’s classy and feminine and I also think she’s soft and pretty and will age well. Maya Rudolph has a Pearl who’s what, 3 now? Definitely a lovely choice. I’ve got her in one of my combos, so I must like her! Pearl gets a solid :thumbsup: from me!
This is my favourite middle name of all time! I love it as a first name too but the Whale on Spongebob Squarepants is called Pearl which kinda puts me off it as a first name.
Pearl is lovely!
As another literary/spiritual reference, there’s an important 14-century Middle English poem called “Pearl” — it is both a spiritual allegory and an elegy for the poet’s deceased young daughter. The poet is unknown, but he’s thought to be the same one who wrote the slightly more famous “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Anyway, “Pearl” is touching and beautiful, provided one can wade through the slightly odd Middle English dialect.
Now I’ve revealed myself as a completely nerdy medieval literature nut.
I adore Pearl; she’s pretty, but simple, and has a lot of class about her. She’s actually one of the very very few one-syllable names I actually like. (Along with Maeve & Jane – and Rose, Claire, Elle/Belle and Anne, to an extent) She features in a few of my combos-in-progress – prominently Beatrix Elodie Pearl.
My younger sister actually had her second baby earlier this month and named her Lilian Margarete Pearl
It was either that or Lilian Amelie Maris!
Sarah, I was dimly aware of a SpongeBob character named Pearl, but I didn’t realize she was a whale – yikes!
Emmy Jo, that’s interesting – was there any suggestion that Pearl *was* his daughter’s name? I’m assuming that’s not the case, especially not in that era. But I keep wondering why the Puritans didn’t pick up on the idea of naming their daughters Pearl?
Beatrix Elodie Pearl is lovely, Sophie! But Maris, oh – I *love* Maris!
Pearl is my favourite gemstone name by far so thanks for making her name of the day. I think it’s because she feels so different to the others gemstones; less gawdy and showy, she oozes the quiet, simple elegance that pearls themselves offer.
I think she would make a pretty and unusual choice these days and agree with other posters that she seems well suited to the middle spot where she fufils the common requirement for a mono-syllable name but would sound fresh, classy and once familiar and yet wonderfully unexpected.
Abby — Some scholars have speculated that his daughter’s name was Margaret.
I wonder if the reason the name Pearl never caught on with the Puritans has to do with their desire for simplicity and modesty in dress. Though pearls are used in the symbolically in the Bible, St. Paul also cautions women to “dress modestly…not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes.” Would naming a daughter Pearl have felt too showy and vain, perhaps?
That’s probably it. I guess there weren’t any Puritan girls named Ruby, either, despite that whole “good woman is better than rubies” bit.
But that’s *so* interesting that her name might’ve been Margaret. Don’t you just *love* history!
Sophie – Beatrix Elodie Pearl is a wonderful combination!
Hmm I do like this name although not enough to make my favourites list. I feel that others such as Edith are ready to be pulled out of the closet but I’m not sure that Pearl’s quite ready.