How Many People Are Named Merlyn?
people named Merlyn are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 191,476 people in the US has this name
Based on 5,045 babies named Merlyn in Social Security records from 1908 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎💎 Very Rare
Peak Year
159 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Variant of MERLIN, sometimes used as a feminine form. It has perhaps been influenced by the Welsh word merlyn meaning "pony".
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Merlyn in English. Counting Merlyn and these spellings together, about 7,983 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Merlyn, 50.1% were girls and 49.9% were boys. The share of girls among babies named Merlyn rose from 23.3% in the 1910s to 74.6% in the 2010s. It was highest in the 2000s, at 86.2%.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Merlyn alive today is about 57 years old, and 59% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 28 and 80 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Merlyn first appears in the records in 1908 and was given most often in 1930, to 159 babies. In 2025, 13 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1908 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Merlyn has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #509, in 1931. In 2025 it ranked #11,530. Among girls, its best rank was #1,160, in 1936.
| Boys | Girls | |
|---|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #11,530 | #12,735 |
| Best rank | #509 (1931) | #1,160 (1936) |
| Years in the top 100 | None | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #557 in the 1930s | #1,368 in the 1930s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Merlyn alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Merlyn were born in Iowa than in any other state: about 97 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Merlyn was given 18.2 times as often in South Dakota, 16 times in Iowa and 10.1 times in Minnesota.
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