Pearl

Where Pearl comes from

From pearl. * (river in China): From Chinese 珠江 (Zhūjiāng, Zyu1 Gong1, “Pearl River”); calque of Chinese 珠 (zhū, zyu1, “pearl”). * (haven in Hawaii): From Hawaiian Wai Momi (“pearl water”); calque of Hawaiian momi (“pearl”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Pearl
  • English
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #47 among girls — 569 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1892
    Pearl S. Buck born
    Chinese women Nobel Prize winner, author, teacher, missionary
  3. 1900
    Peak, #24
    2,512 babies named Pearl — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1918
    Pearl Bailey born
    American actress and singer
  5. 1935
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #167.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name from English.
  • A female given name from English.
  • A male given name from English.
Namesakes
  • Pearl S. Buck · Chinese women Nobel Prize winner, author, teacher, missionary, 1892–1973
  • Pearl Bailey · American actress and singer, 1918–1990
  • Pearl Mackie · British actress, born 1987
  • Pearl White · American actress, 1892–1938
  • Pearl Thusi · South African actress, born 1988

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.