How popular is the baby name Pearl in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Pearl.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Pearl


Posts that mention the name Pearl

How did the attack on Pearl Harbor affect the baby name Pearl?

The attack on Pearl Harbor (7 Dec. 1941)
The attack on Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941 — 77 years ago today — Japanese planes carried out a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which was stationed at Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii.

That day, across the island of Oahu, close to 2,400 Americans were killed, including both military personnel and civilians, with more than 1,100 wounded. Additionally, the Japanese attack sunk or significantly damaged 21 ships and, of the 402 U.S. aircraft at Pearl Harbor, destroyed 188 and damaged 159.

On December 8 — after having maintained neutrality for more than two years — the U.S. declared war on the Empire of Japan and thereby officially entered WWII.

The following year, U.S. usage of the baby name Pearl, which had been trending downward since the 1920s, increased by nearly 31%:

  • 1945: 654 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 265th]
  • 1944: 757 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 238th]
  • 1943: 878 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 223rd]
  • 1942: 1,092 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 191st]
  • 1941: 835 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 212th]
  • 1940: 908 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 197th]
  • 1939: 901 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 198th]

Some of these post-1941 babies got first-middle combos like “Pearl Victory” and “Pearl Harbor.” (Here’s a “Victory Pearl Harbor.”)

After that 1942 uptick, the decline of the name Pearl continued. Usage was lowest during the last three decades of the 20th century. Since then, usage has picked up somewhat.

What are your thoughts on the name Pearl?

Sources: Attack on Pearl Harbor – Wikipedia, The Attack on Pearl Harbor – DPAA, SSA

Image: USS SHAW exploding Pearl Harbor (public domain)

“Miss” Zane Grey

American author Zane Grey (1872-1939)
Zane Grey

According to a newspaper article from 1911, many people assumed that Zane Grey was a woman because of his first name:

Zane Grey, who is spending the summer at Cottage Point, Lackawaxen, Pa., complains that his unusual first name is the cause of much misunderstanding and that he has received numerous letters addressed to “Miss” Zane Grey and requests for the lady’s photograph.

But “Zane” wasn’t his actual first name. It was his middle name, taken from his mother’s maiden name.

His full name at birth was Pearl Zane Grey. He was born in early 1872 in the Ohio town of Zanesville, which was named after his maternal ancestor Ebenezer Zane.

The name “Pearl” is usually considered feminine, but it seems to have been used for males in Zane’s family; he had a male cousin named Pearl. He disliked the name and dropped it when he began his writing career.

Various sources claim the name “Pearl” was chosen because, around the time of Zane’s birth, newspapers were describing Queen Victoria’s mourning attire as pearl gray. (He was born a few weeks after the tenth anniversary of Prince Albert’s death.) I did some research, though, and couldn’t find a single American newspaper from that era that mentioned pearl gray in association with the queen.

What are your thoughts on the name Zane? Do you view it as masculine or feminine?

P.S. The Zane Grey-inspired television show Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater (1956-1961) gave rise to five (!) other TV shows. These spin-offs were behind several baby name debuts, including Hoby, Case and Cully.

Source: “Authors and their work.” Sun [New York] 14 Jul. 1911: 7.

Top 50 nature names for baby girls

Daisy
Daisy

Nature is waking up again!

Let’s celebrate by checking out which nature names are the most popular for baby girls right now.

Ironically, the top 50 list below includes all the seasons except for “Spring,” but it does feature lots of springtime things: flowers, birds, trees…

To create this list, I used the 2015 U.S. baby name data and stuck to names that were also correctly spelled English words. This means that I skipped names that were non-English words (like Luna) and alternative spellings of words (like Brooke). I should also mention that several of these names (such as Rowan, Sage, Robin, and Clementine) do have more than one etymology to choose from.

Here are the names, plus links to the popularity graphs:

  1. Lily
  2. Violet
  3. Hazel
  4. Autumn
  5. Ruby
  6. Jasmine
  7. Willow
  8. Jade
  9. Ivy
  10. Rose
  11. Daisy
  12. Summer
  13. Iris
  14. Olive
  15. Rowan
  16. Amber
  17. River
  18. Ember
  19. Sage
  20. Aspen
  21. Dahlia
  22. Juniper
  23. Raven
  24. Holly
  25. Savanna
  26. Rosemary
  27. Winter
  28. Crystal
  29. Azalea
  30. Pearl
  31. Magnolia
  32. Meadow
  33. Wren
  34. Ivory
  35. Laurel
  36. Sky
  37. Clementine
  38. Briar
  39. Jewel
  40. Heather
  41. Diamond
  42. Robin
  43. Poppy
  44. Opal
  45. Sunny
  46. Coral
  47. Emerald
  48. Clover
  49. Pepper
  50. Sapphire

Which nature name(s) do you like best?

P.S. Nature names that didn’t quite make the top 50 included Amethyst, Stormy, Indigo, Zinnia, Sandy, and Acacia.

Source: SSA (2015 U.S. baby name data)

Image: Adapted from Leucanthemum vulgare by The Cosmonaut under CC BY-SA 2.5 CA.

[Latest update: Feb. 2025]

California family with 22 children

Marion and Charlotte “Lottie” Story of Bakersfield, California, had at least 22 children — including five sets of twins — from 1922 to 1946. Seventeen of their kids are listed on the 1940 U.S. Census (see below).

I don’t know the names of all the Story children, but here are 20 of them: Jean, Jane, Jack, Jacqueline, June, Eileen, Clyde, Robert, James, Jeannette, Steve, Jerry, Terry (sometimes “Terrytown”), Charlotte, Scotty, Sherrie, Garry, Joanne, Frances (called Lidwina), and Monica (called Sandy).

Story family of California in 1940 U.S. census
The Story family on the 1940 U.S. Census

Charlotte Story herself was one of a dozen children, born from 1899 to 1919. Her 11 siblings were named Pearl, George, Rhea, Hazel, Fern, Ira, Myrtle, Dorothy, Helen, Russell, and Viola.

And Charlotte’s mother Elsie was one of 13 children, born from 1865 to 1892. Her 12 siblings were named Edward, Levi, William, Frank, Rosa, Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret, Archibald, Gertrude, and Emma.

So here’s the question: If you had to choose all of your own children’s names from just one of the sibsets above, which set would you pick? Why?

Sources: Charlotte M Story – Find A Grave, Elsie E LaCount – Find A Grave

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus