Girls' name · since 2016
Melanin
Since 2016, U.S. Social Security records show 85 babies named Melanin, peaking in 2021. See the year-by-year trend, decade totals, and state rankings below, sourced from federal birth data.
- #28,986 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #16,613 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 85
- born since 2016
- 2020s
- peak decade
85 babies have been named Melanin since 2016, making it today's #16613 girls' name.
Social Security Administration records show Melanin recorded 85 times among girls since 2016, holding rank #16613 nationally today, ahead of 4% of girls, peaking in the 2020s. This profile derives year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 2016 to 2025.
- #28,986 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #16,613 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 85 born since 2016
- 2020s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Melanin ranks #28,986 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #16,613 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 85 born since 2016, peaking in the 2020s.
- #28,986 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #16,613 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 85
- born since 2016
- 2020s
- peak decade
Melanin's 85 recorded births place it above 59.84% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
No state rows cleared SSA’s public reporting threshold for this name.
How Melanin compares
85 22nd percentile among 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Melanin's all-time total is 77% below the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Melanin | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 85 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 15 | 21 | 19,840 |
Melanin's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Divide Melanin's SSA record in two at 2021 and the more recent half accounts for 51% of all births, the earlier half the remaining 49%, a genuinely balanced usage pattern. Its calmest year was 2016, with only 5 births recorded -- set against the 2021 peak of 15, that's the full swing in one name's fortunes.
Melanin popularity over time
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2016–2025
- Peak year (2021)
- 15
- Annual births at peak, across 10 years of records
Melanin by decade
2020s is the heaviest window (54 births, 64% of the file).
2020s was Melanin's strongest decade.
54 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 64% of all-time use.
Melanin births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 2010s
2010s
31 births
- 2020s
2020s
54 births
What this shows Peak: 2020s at 54 births (64% of all-time use).
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Melanin
Nearby Names Like Melanin
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Melanin
Compare Melanin side by side: Melanin vs Melissa Melanin vs Melanie Melanin vs Melinda
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Melanin
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Melanin: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~2021)
Similar record span (~9 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 2016–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Melanin draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.