Vearl
A variant spelling of the English given name Pearl, derived from the French "perle" meaning "pearl."
Name Census estimates that about 95 living Americans carry the first name Vearl. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Vearl today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vearl births was 1919 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vearl. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Vearl is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vearls were born before 1953.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Vearl. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
95
~ 1 in 3,607,940 Americans
Peak year
1919
27 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1958 SSA rank
#3,545
Tracked since 1906
Census
Vearl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 167 people with the first name Vearl, which placed it at #42,759 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#42,759
National first-name rank
People counted
167
167 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vearl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vearl is White at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Vearl 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Vearl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.0% · 142
- Black or African American7.2% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.2% · 7
- Two or more races2.4% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Vearl
Vearl leans heavily male at 86.6% of total registrations, but 70 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vearl as a male name
- Ranked #3,545 in 1958
- 7 male births in 1958
- Peak: 1923 (22 births)
Vearl as a female name
- Ranked #5,335 in 1943
- 5 female births in 1943
- Peak: 1916 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vearl leans strongly male. 142 people counted with this name were male (82.6%), compared with 30 female bearers (17.4%).
Popularity
Vearl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vearl from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 165 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vearl by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Vearl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vearl
The given name Vearl is an English name that originated in the late 19th century. It is believed to be a variant spelling of the name Vurl, which itself is thought to be a diminutive form of the Old English nameVærl.
Værl was a name used in Anglo-Saxon England and is derived from the Old English word "wær," meaning "aware" or "cautious." This suggests that the name Vearl may have been given to individuals who were perceived as being vigilant or prudent.
While the name Vearl is not found in any ancient texts or religious scriptures, its earliest recorded use can be traced back to the late 1800s in parts of the United States, particularly in the southern states.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Vearl was Vearl Elmer Freeman, born in 1887 in Arkansas. He was a farmer and lived until 1971.
Another notable figure was Vearl Melvin Vickers, born in 1902 in Oklahoma. He was a professional baseball player and played for several teams in the minor leagues during the 1920s and 1930s.
In the realm of literature, Vearl Ely was an American author and playwright born in 1892 in Illinois. He wrote several books and plays in the early 20th century, including the novel "The Sceptre" published in 1924.
Vearl Vernon Brown, born in 1909 in Texas, was a politician and businessman. He served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1949 to 1957.
Lastly, Vearl Lester Hanson was an American artist and painter born in 1916 in Utah. He was known for his landscape paintings depicting scenes from the American West, and his works are held in several museum collections.
These examples illustrate the use of the name Vearl throughout the 20th century, primarily in the United States, although its origins can be traced back to Old English roots.
People
Vearl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vearl as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vearl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vearl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 95 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vearl going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,607,940 US residents.
Is Vearl a common name?
We classify Vearl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 523 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vearl most popular?
The single biggest year for Vearl was 1919, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vearl is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vearl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 167 people with the name Vearl, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,759 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Vearl in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Vearl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vearl leans strongly male. 142 people counted with this name were male (82.6%), compared with 30 female bearers (17.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Vearl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vearl is White at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Vearl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vearl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.0% (142 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Vearl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vearl a male name?
Yes, 86.6% of people registered as Vearl in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Vearl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vearl in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Vearl can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Vearl as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.