How Many People Are Named Merle?
people named Merle are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 29,800 people in the US has this name
Based on 45,389 babies named Merle in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎 Rare
Peak Year
1,275 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Variant of MERRILL or MURIEL. The spelling has been influenced by the word merle meaning "blackbird" (via French, from Latin merula).
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Merle, 29.3% were girls and 70.7% were boys. The share of girls among babies named Merle fell from 44.1% in the 1880s to 2.7% in the 2020s. It was highest in the 1890s, at 65.5%.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Merle alive today is about 68 years old, and 76% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 60 and 81 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Merle first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1921, to 1,275 babies. In 2025, 38 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Merle has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #170, in 1918. In 2025 it ranked #3,484. Among girls, its best rank was #295, in 1903.
| Boys | Girls | |
|---|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #3,484 | #16,469 |
| Best rank | #170 (1918) | #295 (1903) |
| Years in the top 100 | None | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #180 in the 1920s | #352 in the 1920s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Merle alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Merle were born in Pennsylvania than in any other state: about 1,172 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Merle was given 4.5 times as often in South Dakota, 4 times in Iowa and 3.4 times in Kansas.
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