Melford
Melford was last recorded in 1982, when 7 babies were given it; 1,175 Americans have been recorded with it between 1904 and 1982 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Melford by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Melford?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #5,404, in 1982; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
46 babies in 1921, the peak
Melford peaked in 1921, when 46 boys were given it, #1,039 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 7 | #5,404 | 3.9 |
| 1977 | 5 | #6,497 | 3.0 |
| 1976 | 5 | #6,166 | 3.2 |
| 1975 | 7 | #4,628 | 4.5 |
| 1974 | 7 | #4,461 | 4.5 |
| 1972 | 8 | #3,838 | 4.9 |
| 1971 | 9 | #3,562 | 5.1 |
| 1970 | 5 | #5,197 | 2.7 |
| 1968 | 6 | #3,984 | 3.5 |
| 1967 | 6 | #3,829 | 3.4 |
Every recorded year (67)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 6 | #3,794 | 3.2 |
| 1964 | 8 | #3,198 | 4.0 |
| 1963 | 12 | #2,494 | 5.9 |
| 1962 | 6 | #3,887 | 2.9 |
| 1961 | 9 | #3,028 | 4.2 |
| 1959 | 12 | #2,496 | 5.6 |
| 1958 | 8 | #3,189 | 3.8 |
| 1957 | 12 | #2,446 | 5.6 |
| 1956 | 13 | #2,336 | 6.1 |
| 1955 | 13 | #2,277 | 6.3 |
| 1954 | 12 | #2,388 | 5.9 |
| 1953 | 12 | #2,357 | 6.1 |
| 1952 | 17 | #1,914 | 8.7 |
| 1951 | 21 | #1,666 | 11.2 |
| 1950 | 15 | #1,995 | 8.4 |
| 1949 | 19 | #1,740 | 10.7 |
| 1948 | 22 | #1,591 | 12.5 |
| 1947 | 18 | #1,829 | 9.8 |
| 1946 | 21 | #1,586 | 12.9 |
| 1945 | 19 | #1,559 | 14.1 |
| 1944 | 10 | #2,412 | 7.3 |
| 1943 | 19 | #1,678 | 13.3 |
| 1942 | 21 | #1,571 | 15.2 |
| 1941 | 20 | #1,570 | 16.3 |
| 1940 | 15 | #1,868 | 12.9 |
| 1939 | 20 | #1,518 | 18.1 |
| 1938 | 23 | #1,425 | 20.7 |
| 1937 | 30 | #1,223 | 28.1 |
| 1936 | 22 | #1,445 | 21.2 |
| 1935 | 20 | #1,573 | 19.2 |
| 1934 | 18 | #1,713 | 17.4 |
| 1933 | 24 | #1,393 | 24.2 |
| 1932 | 21 | #1,567 | 20.1 |
| 1931 | 21 | #1,573 | 20.2 |
| 1930 | 27 | #1,413 | 24.6 |
| 1929 | 33 | #1,230 | 30.7 |
| 1928 | 30 | #1,346 | 27.1 |
| 1927 | 31 | #1,342 | 27.5 |
| 1926 | 26 | #1,452 | 23.4 |
| 1925 | 40 | #1,114 | 35.8 |
| 1924 | 32 | #1,315 | 28.3 |
| 1923 | 42 | #1,111 | 38.3 |
| 1922 | 30 | #1,361 | 27.6 |
| 1921 | 46 | #1,039 | 41.8 |
| 1920 | 24 | #1,577 | 22.5 |
| 1919 | 20 | #1,737 | 20.4 |
| 1918 | 31 | #1,279 | 30.6 |
| 1917 | 23 | #1,516 | 24.9 |
| 1916 | 33 | #1,151 | 37.1 |
| 1915 | 16 | #1,854 | 18.9 |
| 1914 | 20 | #1,376 | 30.5 |
| 1913 | 11 | #1,765 | 21.5 |
| 1912 | 13 | #1,399 | 30.2 |
| 1911 | 6 | #1,672 | 26.6 |
| 1909 | 6 | #1,397 | 36.6 |
| 1908 | 5 | #1,529 | 32.4 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,162 | 46.8 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Melford a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Melford has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 67 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Melford: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Melford, and how old are they?
An estimated 287 Americans named Melford and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (24% of everyone recorded); the median is 73 years old and half are between 63 and 80. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 441 people named Melford (0 women and girls, 441 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 380 born in the U.S. The Census count is 16% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Melford
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Melford and names like it
- Compare Melford and HarroldBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sMelford peaked in 1921.
- Minnesota’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Melford since 1910.
- The top names of 1921The year the most babies were named Melford.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Melford alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with MMost given first.