Pernell
An English masculine name from medieval times, derived from a surname.
Name Census estimates that about 2,550 living Americans carry the first name Pernell. It is a predominantly male name (91.7% of registrations). The average person named Pernell today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pernell births was 1964 (183 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pernell. 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 Pernell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 134,413 Americans
Peak year
1964
183 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,212
Tracked since 1915
Census
Pernell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,972 people with the first name Pernell, which placed it at #7,656 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
#7,656
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,972 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pernell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pernell is Black at 80.4%. The next largest groups are White (9.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.5%). 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 Pernell 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 Pernell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.4% · 1,586
- White9.0% · 177
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.5% · 70
- Two or more races3.3% · 65
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 29
Gender
Gender distribution for Pernell
Pernell leans heavily male at 91.7% of total registrations, but 275 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Pernell as a male name
- Ranked #11,893 in 2023
- 6 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1964 (178 births)
Pernell as a female name
- Ranked #9,212 in 1972
- 5 female births in 1972
- Peak: 1933 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pernell leans strongly male. 1,834 people counted with this name were male (93.2%), compared with 133 female bearers (6.8%).
Popularity
Pernell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pernell from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 955 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pernell 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 Pernell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pernells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Virginia, Louisiana, New York recorded the most babies named Pernell, while New Jersey, Missouri, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pernell
The name Pernell is a variant spelling of the French name Pernelle, which is a feminine form of the name Petronilla. The name Petronilla is derived from the Latin name Petronia, which comes from the Roman family name Petronius. Petronius is thought to have been derived from the Latin word "petra" meaning "rock" or "stone".
Pernell has its origins in medieval France, and it was a relatively common name among French women during the Middle Ages. The name is believed to have been introduced to England by French settlers in the 11th century, following the Norman Conquest of 1066.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Pernell can be found in the 12th-century English chronicle "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle". The chronicle mentions a woman named Pernell, who was the wife of a Norman nobleman named Ralph de Gaugy.
In the 13th century, there was a famous French mystic and religious writer named Pernelle de Rupelmonde, also known as Pernelle of Rupelmonde. She was born around 1200 and is known for her writings on spirituality and mysticism.
Another notable historical figure with the name Pernell was Pernell Whetcombe, an English Benedictine nun who lived in the 15th century. She was the prioress of the Benedictine convent at Romsey in Hampshire, England, and is known for her writings on religious subjects.
In the 16th century, there was a French poet and playwright named Pernette du Guillet (1520-1545). She is best known for her collection of poems entitled "Rymes", which was published in 1545.
Pernell Stout (1788-1867) was an American farmer and politician who served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in the early 19th century.
While Pernell has been a relatively uncommon name in modern times, it has a rich history and has been borne by several notable figures throughout the centuries.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Pernell
People
Pernell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pernell 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
Pernell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pernell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,550 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pernell 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 134,413 US residents.
Is Pernell a common name?
We classify Pernell as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,306 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pernell most popular?
The single biggest year for Pernell was 1964, when 183 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pernell is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pernell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,972 people with the name Pernell, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,656 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 Pernell 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 Pernell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pernell leans strongly male. 1,834 people counted with this name were male (93.2%), compared with 133 female bearers (6.8%). 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 Pernell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pernell is Black at 80.4%. The next largest groups are White (9.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.5%). 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 Pernell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Pernell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.4% (1,586 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 Pernell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pernell a male name?
Yes, 91.7% of people registered as Pernell in the SSA data are male. 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 Pernell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pernell 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 Pernell 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 many Americans are named Pernell?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.