Perl
A diminutive form of the Germanic name Pearl, meaning a precious gem.
Name Census estimates that about 572 living Americans carry the first name Perl. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Perl today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Perl births was 2023 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Perl. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Perl started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
572
~ 1 in 599,221 Americans
Peak year
2023
35 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
1931 SSA rank
#4,195
Tracked since 1883
Gender
Gender distribution for Perl
Perl leans heavily female at 87.3% of total registrations, but 85 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Perl as a male name
- Ranked #4,195 in 1931
- 5 male births in 1931
- Peak: 1924 (9 births)
Perl as a female name
- Ranked #5,549 in 2024
- 23 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (35 births)
Popularity
Perl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Perl from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 216 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Perl remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Perl by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Perl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Perls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Perl
The name Perl is not a traditional given name but rather a modern term derived from the computer programming language of the same name. The language Perl was created by Larry Wall in 1987 and was initially a shortening of the phrase "Practical Extraction and Reporting Language."
Over time, the name Perl stuck, and it became associated with the language itself, which grew in popularity among computer programmers and software developers. While not a traditional given name, some parents have chosen to name their children Perl in recent years, likely inspired by the programming language and its widespread use in the technology industry.
There are no known historical references or ancient texts that mention the name Perl as a given name. It is a relatively modern coinage that emerged in the late 20th century with the advent of computer programming languages.
However, there are a few notable individuals who have been named Perl, although their numbers are likely small due to the unconventional nature of the name. One example is Perl Wolrich, a computer scientist and engineer who worked on developing microprocessor architectures at Intel.
Another individual named Perl is Perl von Gartzau, a German artist and designer known for her experimental fashion designs and installations. Perl von Gartzau was born in 1982 and continues to work in the art and design fields.
In the entertainment industry, there is an actress named Perl Courtney-Marriott, who has appeared in several television shows and films. Her birth year is not widely documented, but she has been active in the industry since the early 2000s.
While not a traditional given name with a long history, the name Perl has gained some traction in recent decades, likely due to the popularity of the programming language and its association with technology and innovation.
People
Perl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Perl as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Perl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Perl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 572 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Perl going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 599,221 US residents.
Is Perl a common name?
We classify Perl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 668 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Perl most popular?
The single biggest year for Perl was 2023, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Perl is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Perl a female name?
Yes, 87.3% of people registered as Perl in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.