Perle
A feminine French name meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Perle. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Perle today is around 104 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Perle births was 1919 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Perle. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Perle with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Perle is about 104 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Perles were born before 1932.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Perle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1919
23 babies that year
Average age
104
years old
1945 SSA rank
#3,659
Tracked since 1885
Census
Perle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 149 people with the first name Perle, which placed it at #45,514 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#45,514
National first-name rank
People counted
149
149 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Perle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Perle is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Black (16.8%) and Hispanic (12.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Perle described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Perle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.4% · 93
- Black or African American16.8% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino12.1% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 7
- Two or more races4.0% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Perle
Perle is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 329 total registrations, 86 (26.1%) were male and 243 (73.9%) were female.
Perle as a male name
- Ranked #3,659 in 1945
- 5 male births in 1945
- Peak: 1919 (12 births)
Perle as a female name
- Ranked #4,110 in 1935
- 6 female births in 1935
- Peak: 1916 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Perle leans strongly female. 118 people counted with this name were female (80.8%), compared with 28 male bearers (19.2%).
Popularity
Perle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Perle from the 1880s through to the 1940s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 125 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Perle 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 Perle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Perles live
Origin
Meaning and history of Perle
The name Perle originates from the French word "perle," which means "pearl." It is a feminine given name that has been in use since the Middle Ages in France and other parts of Europe.
The name is thought to have been inspired by the precious gemstone, the pearl, which has been highly valued since ancient times for its beauty, rarity, and association with purity and innocence. Pearls have been mentioned in various ancient texts, including the Bible and the Quran, further cementing their significance in different cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Perle can be found in medieval French literature. The 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes mentioned a character named Perle in his work "Perceval, the Story of the Grail." This suggests that the name was already in use during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Perle. One of the most famous was Perle Mesta (1899-1975), an American socialite and political hostess who served as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1949 to 1953. Another notable Perle was Perle Baudier (1884-1979), a French author and feminist known for her works on women's rights and education.
In the realm of literature, Perle McCall (1904-1989) was an American author and playwright who wrote several plays and novels, including "The Wooden Slipper" and "Caroline." Additionally, Perle Mesta (1889-1962), an American philanthropist and diplomat, was renowned for her efforts in promoting cultural exchange between the United States and other nations.
Perle Ourivio (1870-1938), a French painter and illustrator, made significant contributions to the Art Nouveau movement with her whimsical and decorative works. Her illustrations graced numerous books and magazines during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Perle has its roots in French culture, it has been embraced by various linguistic communities worldwide, reflecting the universal appeal of the pearl as a symbol of beauty, purity, and elegance.
People
Perle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Perle 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
Perle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Perle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Perle 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Perle a common name?
We classify Perle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 329 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Perle most popular?
The single biggest year for Perle was 1919, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Perle is about 104 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Perle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 149 people with the name Perle, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,514 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Perle in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Perle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Perle leans strongly female. 118 people counted with this name were female (80.8%), compared with 28 male bearers (19.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Perle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Perle is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Black (16.8%) and Hispanic (12.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Perle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Perle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.4% (93 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Perle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Perle a female name?
Yes, 73.9% of people registered as Perle 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.
Is Perle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Perle in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Perle can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Perle?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.