Find out how popular the last name Perl is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Perl.

Perl, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Perl surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Perl in America

Perl is the 14006th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Perl surname appeared 2,150 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Perl.

We can also compare 2010 data for Perl to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Perl

The surname PERL is believed to have originated in Germany, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the German word "Perle," meaning "pearl," possibly indicating an occupation or association with pearl trading or the production of pearl jewelry.

One of the earliest documented references to the PERL surname can be found in the records of the city of Nuremberg, Germany, where a certain Hans PERL was mentioned as a resident in the year 1567. Another early record comes from the town of Bamberg, where a family by the name of PERL lived in the late 16th century.

The surname PERL has also been traced to various regions in Austria, particularly in the areas around Vienna and Salzburg. In the 18th century, there were notable PERL families living in these regions, some of whom were involved in the textile trade and others in the wine-making industry.

One of the most prominent individuals bearing the PERL surname was Johann Jakob PERL (1681-1756), a German theologian and philosopher who was born in Nuremberg and later became a professor at the University of Leipzig. His works on ethics and metaphysics were highly regarded during his time.

Another notable PERL was the Austrian composer and conductor Johann Friedrich PERL (1773-1819), who was born in Vienna and is best known for his operas and ballets, which were popular in the early 19th century.

In the realm of literature, one cannot overlook the German writer and poet Fritz PERL (1891-1967), who was born in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) and is renowned for his novels and short stories that explored themes of identity and alienation in modern society.

Moving to the 20th century, the name PERL gained further recognition with the American mathematician and computer scientist Gerald PERL (1935-1995), who made significant contributions to the field of artificial intelligence and is credited with developing the programming language known as Perl.

While the surname PERL has its roots in Germany and Austria, it has since spread to various parts of the world, with notable bearers of the name found in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Israel, among others.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Perl

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Perl.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Perl was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Perl has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Perl was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Perl, please contact us.

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