Simple, elegant, and so much more than just a gemstone name, the baby name Pearl is almost as classic as Rose.
Thanks to Kate for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME PEARL MEAN?
Like many a precious gem, Pearl first appears as given name during the nineteenth century. In the US, the name ranked as high as #24 in the 1890s. It remained in the US Top 100 well into the 1920s.
A beautiful pearl is rare. Mollusks, typically oysters, produce the gems. In nature, a bit of sand slips inside the shell. An elegant defense system coats the grain with a shiny substance as a barrier. Pearl farming means that divers no longer pry open every oyster hoping for a jackpot. Oysters are still necessary, but the sand is slipped in on purpose.
So pearls come from oysters, but the word is a little harder to trace.
The Old French word 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 the gems forever. The earliest record goes back to China, circa 2300 BC. Royals used to sew them into their clothing. We still crush them up as cosmetics.
We tend to think of them as a silvery-white, pink, or pale gray color. Pearls actually occur in a wide range of colors, including black.
It’s the birthstone for June, making this name a logical choice for a summer baby.
SPIRITUAL and LITERARY PEARL
The Pearl of Great Price is a New Testament parable. According to Matthew, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to the costliest pearl. (Since pearl farming hadn’t been invented then, pearls would’ve been rare indeed.) This makes the name a subtle spiritual choice.
The name picks up a literary dimension thanks to:
- In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, adulteress Hester Prynne give the name to her daughter. Published in 1850, the story was set in the 1640s.
- American writer Pearl S. Buck grew up in China with her missionary parents. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for her enduring 1931 novel The Good Earth.
- In 1947, 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.
The devastating attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941 adds another kind of meaning to the name.
And a “pearl of wisdom” can be a good piece of advice. The phrase dates to at least the 1500s. That puts Pearl in the same category as Sophia and Sage.
POP CULTURE PEARLS
The baby name Pearl faded in use during the twentieth century, heading towards obscurity in the 1970s and 80s.
But it wasn’t completely out of our collective memory.
Comedian Sarah Colley became a star of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and then nationally known as part of the cast of Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991. We know her as Minnie Pearl.
In the 1990s, Pearl Jam emerged from Seattle’s grunge scene to become one of the most influential bands of the decade.
Then there’s Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Painted around 1665, it was restored in 1994. By the late twentieth century, it was a widely recognized portrait, often inspiring other works. The girl’s identity is unknown.
In 1999, Tracy Chevalier imagined the girl was Griet, a servant in Vermeer’s household. Chevalier’s novel, also titled Girl with a Pearl Earring, became a bestseller. Griet is short for Margriet, the Dutch form of Margaret – which also means pearl.
In 2003, Scarlett Johansson starred as Griet in the movie adaptation of the novel.
On a very different note, fans of Sponge Bob Square Pants might think of Pearl Krabs, the teenage daughter of Sponge Bob’s boss, Mr. Krabs. Pearl is a whale. The character first appeared in 1999.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME PEARL?
The baby name Pearl enjoyed a brief mini-revival in the early twenty-first century.
After spending the second half of the twentieth century in decline, Pearl began to gain in use around the year 2000. Credit to the novel Girl with a Pearl Earring, possibly.
A handful of celebrities, including Maya Rudolph and Jack Osborne, named their daugthers Pearl.
The name reached #567 in 2016. But the peak didn’t last. Pearl now ranks just #805 as of 2023.
Perla, the Spanish and Italian form of the name, has left the US Top 1000 entirely.
VINTAGE and MEANINGFUL GEMSTONE NAME
Pearl is spare, sophisticated, and undeniably vintage, with layers of meaning – just like the gemstone.
And while it’s declined in use, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a great option for parents looking for a fits-in/stands-out name for a girl.
What do you think of the baby name Pearl?
This post was originally published on February 21, 2009. It was substantially revised on September 21, 2015 and September 8, 2024.
Sophie – Beatrix Elodie Pearl is a wonderful combination!
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!
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.
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!
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 ๐ It was either that or Lilian Amelie Maris!
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. ๐
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.
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!
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.
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.