2000
#14,168
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,945
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.72
Rare Last name
Perl
A surname derived from the French place name Perles, likely referring to someone from that locality.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,445 Americans carry the last name Perl. That puts it at #13,606 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 140,186 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Perl surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Perl with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 140,186
Census rank
#13,606
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,132 bearers of the surname Perl in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13606th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Perl, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (1.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Perl
Among Census respondents with the surname Perl, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (1.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Perl bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Perl surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.7% · 2,018
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 63
- Two or more races1.1% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 17
- Black or African American0.5% · 10
Timeline
Historical Census data for Perl
Perl appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#14,006
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,150
+205 bearers (+10.5%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Up 162 places
2020
#13,606
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,132
-18 bearers (-0.8%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Up 400 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,168 | 1,945 | 0.72 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,006 | 2,150 | 0.73 | +205 bearers (+10.5%) | Up 162 places |
| 2020 | #13,606 | 2,132 | 0.71 | -18 bearers (-0.8%) | Up 400 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Perl surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #14,006 | #13,606 | 2.9% |
| Count | 2,150 | 2,132 | -0.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.73 | 0.71 | -2.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Perl bearers went from 2,150 to 2,132 (-0.8% change). The surname moved up 400 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,006 to #13,606.
FAQ
Perl surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Perl?
Name Census estimates that about 2,445 living Americans carry the surname Perl. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 140,186 residents.
How common is Perl?
Perl ranks #13,606 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,132 people with the surname Perl. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,445), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.71 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Perl.
Has Perl become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Perl went from 2,150 recorded bearers to 2,132. That is a decrease of 18 (-0.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,006 to #13,606.
What does the Census say about the background of Perl?
Among Census respondents with the surname Perl, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (1.1%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Perl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (2,018 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Perl appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.7%), Hispanic (3.0%), Two or More Races (1.1%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Perl (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Perl mean?
A surname derived from the French place name Perles, likely referring to someone from that locality. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Perl (0.71 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Perl?
Want to know how many Americans have the surname Perl? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.