Recorded 1883–2025 · United States
Perl was most popular in 2023, when 35 American babies were given the name — ranking #7,168 that year. In 2025 it ranked #7,565, with 32 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 701 people named Perl.
Perl first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1883, which makes it about 142 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 54 of the 143 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 701 American births named Perl between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 605 are estimated to be alive today.
32 American babies were named Perl in 2025, ranking #7,565 that year.
Perl is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 29 births a year, against 18 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +61% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Perl is mostly a girl’s name — 87.9% of the 701 Americans given it were girls and 12.1% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 605 Americans named Perl are alive today — 86% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 12 years old, and half are between 6 and 21.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Perl on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org