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I love Pearl on a boy! It reminds me of Hart, Sage, Laurel, and Holly, all of which I like on boys (and of which Hart is the only one commonly considered masculine).

It would be unique, defying convention - which to me is distinct & unique, more like a leader rather than a follower. When we think of why Pearl so commonly associates with females, (from-to) then reverse our thought (to-from) - it absolutely works for either gender.

No, no way! Pearl is definitely only a female name to me.

Nope. WTF Dad

I checked the stats for Pearl, and it was used for males. I don't know why, though. Gemstone names seem feminine to me, probably because I think of them as being used for jewelry, which is feminine.

Sound-wise, yes, but I don't think of it as particularly masculine. There's nothing inherently feminine about gem names, but pearls themselves have a more feminine vibe to me. I have heard of one male Pearl, though. A man I encountered in an obituary, named Emerald (which I LOVE), apparently had a brother named Pearl. They were born in the early 1900s, which is about when I'd expect those names to have popped up.

This message was edited 2/13/2016, 2:52 PM

Nope. Pearl does not work for a male regardless if first or middle

Probably not, but it always sounded masculine to me.

I think of Jade and Garnet as unisex. I suppose Pearl could be too, in theory, although it sounds exclusively feminine to me.

It's a word, I could see it in the middle name slot just fine.

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I think it's too feminine nowadays to be used as a first name, but 100 years ago I could see Pearl being used on a boy. It would fit right in with Garland, Garnet, Oval, other names used on boys at that time that would be considered quite feminine now.

Why not.
People name their daughters all kinds of masculine names, so why not the other way around? It might be a little hard to live with as a first name these days, but I think it would make a good middle name.

No way. I can't see this being a name for a boy.