Pearl (given name) explained

Pearl
Gender:unisex
Pronunciation:purl
Meaning:"pearl"

Pearl is a unisex given name derived from the English word pearl, a hard, roundish object produced within the soft tissue of a living, shelled mollusk. Pearls are commonly used in jewelry-making.[1] The name has a history of usage among Jews. Pearl is used as an Anglicization of the Yiddish name Perle.[2] Pearl is also a common Jewish surname. Usage of the name for girls may also have been inspired by the name Margaret, which means "pearl".[3] Pearl came into wider popular use in the Anglosphere along with other gemstone names used for girls during the late Victorian Era.[4]

Symbolism

The pearl is the birthstone for the month of June.[5] Pearls have been associated with innocence and modesty. Because it comes from the sea, it also has associations with the moon and with water.[6] Pearls are also traditionally considered appropriate jewelry for debutantes and brides.

The pearl also has Christian religious symbolism. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, heroine Hester Prynne names her illegitimate daughter Pearl because the child is "of great price, purchased with all she had, her mother's only treasure." The passage refers to the Parable of the Pearl in the New Testament. The Hymn of the Pearl is a passage found in the apocryphon Acts of Thomas. The gates to Heaven are also commonly pictured as made of pearl.

History of female usage

It was among the 50 most popular names for girls born in the United States between 1880 and 1911, remained among the top 100 most popular names for girls between 1911 and 1926 and among the top 500 most popular names for girls in the United States until 1960. It was last ranked among the top 1,000 names for girls born in the United States in 1986 before it returned to the top 1,000 in 2007, when it was ranked at No. 993. It has continued to rank among the top 1,000 names for American girls through 2023. [7] The name was the 223rd most common name for women and girls in the United States in the 1990 census.[8] The name has also been among the top 1,000 names used for girls in the United Kingdom since 1996 and among the top 300 most used names for British girls since 2013.[9] It was among the top one hundred names used for girls in Canada between 1920 and 1932.[10] It has again increased in usage in Canada and ranked among the top five hundred names for newborn girls there in 2023.[11] It was also among the top one hundred names for newborn girls in New Zealand at different times between 1900 and 1925.[12] Authors Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz noted in their 2007 book The Baby Name Bible that Pearl is in fashion again with hipster parents in the United States.[5]

History of male usage

The name Pearl was among the top 1,000 names given to boys in the United States between 1880 and 1939.[13] The American Western author Zane Grey may have been given his little-used first name of Pearl in 1872 in reference to a newspaper article that described Queen Victoria's mourning dress as "pearl grey".[14] American strikebreaker Pearl Bergoff was given the name in the 1870s because his mother had wanted a girl.[15]

Women

Men

Nickname

Stage name

Fictional characters

Variants

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Meaning, origin and history of the Name Pearl. Mike. Campbell. Behind the Name.
  2. Book: Hanks. Patrick. Hardcastle. Kate . Hodges. Flavia. 2006. Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press . 217. 0-19-861060-2.
  3. Weiss, Sonia (1999) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Baby Names. Alpha Books.
  4. Book: Hanks. Patrick. Hardcastle. Kate . Hodges. Flavia. 2006. Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press . 217. 0-19-861060-2.
  5. Rosenkrantz, Linda, and Satran, Pamela Redmond (2007). Baby Name Bible. St. Martin's Griffin.
  6. Web site: Ibequeaththee.com. www.ibequeaththee.com.
  7. http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi Social Security Administration.
  8. Web site: Behind the Name: Popularity for the Name Pearl. Mike. Campbell. www.behindthename.com.
  9. https://www.behindthename.com/name/pearl/top/england-wales?type=percent
  10. https://www.behindthename.com/name/pearl/top/canada?type=sample
  11. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710014701
  12. https://www.behindthename.com/name/pearl/top/new-zealand?type=sample
  13. Web site: Behind the Name: Popularity for the Name Pearl. Mike. Campbell. www.behindthename.com.
  14. Book: May, Stephen J.. Zane Grey: Romancing The West. Ohio University Press. Athens, Ohio. 1997. 978-0-8214-1181-0.
  15. Book: Wallace . Mike . Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919 . 4 September 2017 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-991146-2 . 12 September 2021 . en.

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