Melvyn
Melvyn was last recorded in 2023, when 5 babies were given it; 4,370 Americans have been recorded with it between 1912 and 2023 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,640 Americans named Melvyn and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (37% of everyone recorded); the median is 76 years old and half are between 49 and 84.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Melvyn by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Melvyn?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #13,487, in 2023; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
293 babies in 1938, the peak
Melvyn peaked in 1938, when 293 boys were given it, #323 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 5 | #13,487 | under 0.01 |
| 2022 | 6 | #11,802 | under 0.01 |
| 2021 | 11 | #7,420 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 12 | #6,890 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 10 | #8,002 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 5 | #13,589 | under 0.01 |
| 2016 | 7 | #10,366 | under 0.01 |
| 2015 | 5 | #13,379 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 6 | #11,680 | under 0.01 |
| 2012 | 8 | #9,413 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (109)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9 | #8,533 | under 0.01 |
| 2010 | 9 | #8,558 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 9 | #8,756 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 18 | #5,183 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 14 | #6,152 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 20 | #4,624 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 13 | #6,097 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 7 | #9,598 | under 0.01 |
| 2003 | 11 | #6,562 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 18 | #4,428 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 12 | #5,896 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 8 | #7,934 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 11 | #5,910 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 6 | #9,232 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 9 | #6,430 | under 0.01 |
| 1995 | 7 | #7,519 | under 0.01 |
| 1994 | 9 | #6,175 | under 0.01 |
| 1993 | 7 | #7,333 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 6 | #8,099 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 10 | #5,369 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 10 | #5,248 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 9 | #5,441 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 8 | #5,540 | under 0.01 |
| 1987 | 8 | #5,274 | under 0.01 |
| 1986 | 9 | #4,712 | under 0.01 |
| 1985 | 6 | #6,250 | under 0.01 |
| 1984 | 8 | #4,830 | under 0.01 |
| 1983 | 12 | #3,550 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 11 | #3,857 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 10 | #4,042 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 14 | #3,196 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 14 | #3,109 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 7 | #4,868 | under 0.01 |
| 1977 | 11 | #3,513 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 21 | #2,215 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 6 | #5,224 | under 0.01 |
| 1974 | 8 | #4,059 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 14 | #2,671 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 7 | #4,283 | under 0.01 |
| 1971 | 18 | #2,247 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 12 | #2,826 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 19 | #1,956 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 21 | #1,766 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 12 | #2,429 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 27 | #1,501 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 16 | #2,046 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 24 | #1,643 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 25 | #1,617 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 16 | #2,091 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 19 | #1,922 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 29 | #1,509 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 33 | #1,377 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 29 | #1,467 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 21 | #1,775 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 21 | #1,751 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 33 | #1,330 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 22 | #1,655 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 23 | #1,619 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 18 | #1,841 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 36 | #1,235 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 39 | #1,154 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 80 | #771 | 0.05 |
| 1948 | 77 | #777 | 0.04 |
| 1947 | 100 | #694 | 0.05 |
| 1946 | 76 | #765 | 0.05 |
| 1945 | 78 | #689 | 0.06 |
| 1944 | 89 | #661 | 0.07 |
| 1943 | 177 | #467 | 0.12 |
| 1942 | 282 | #359 | 0.20 |
| 1941 | 290 | #339 | 0.24 |
| 1940 | 254 | #359 | 0.22 |
| 1939 | 273 | #340 | 0.25 |
| 1938 | 293 | #323 | 0.26 |
| 1937 | 221 | #365 | 0.21 |
| 1936 | 120 | #515 | 0.12 |
| 1935 | 90 | #622 | 0.09 |
| 1934 | 74 | #714 | 0.07 |
| 1933 | 73 | #709 | 0.07 |
| 1932 | 93 | #619 | 0.09 |
| 1931 | 54 | #874 | 0.05 |
| 1930 | 38 | #1,147 | 0.03 |
| 1929 | 45 | #1,022 | 0.04 |
| 1928 | 31 | #1,319 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 43 | #1,093 | 0.04 |
| 1926 | 43 | #1,080 | 0.04 |
| 1925 | 54 | #921 | 0.05 |
| 1924 | 41 | #1,129 | 0.04 |
| 1923 | 43 | #1,096 | 0.04 |
| 1922 | 32 | #1,301 | 0.03 |
| 1921 | 42 | #1,097 | 0.04 |
| 1920 | 24 | #1,578 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 20 | #1,738 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 24 | #1,519 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 33 | #1,195 | 0.04 |
| 1916 | 14 | #2,113 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 16 | #1,855 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 13 | #1,832 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 11 | #1,766 | 0.02 |
| 1912 | 5 | #2,784 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Melvyn a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Melvyn has been given almost only to boys: 10 girls in 109 years of records.
Girls and boys named Melvyn: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Melvyn, and how old are they?
1,640 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 37% of the 4,370 Americans ever recorded as Melvyn. The median Melvyn alive today is 76 years old; half are between 49 and 84.
The 2020 Census counted 2,534 people named Melvyn (63 women and girls, 2,471 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,126 born in the U.S. The Census count is 19% 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.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 623 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 443 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 199 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 123 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 179 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 66 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
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).
Where are babies named Melvyn born?
The states with the most babies named Melvyn are New York, California and Pennsylvania, with 62% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 885 | not ranked | 2.3× |
| California | 256 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 222 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 188 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 119 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 92 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| New Jersey | 89 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Hawaii | 87 | not ranked | 4.7× |
| Texas | 69 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Massachusetts | 54 | not ranked | 0.4× |
Where Melvyn is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Melvyn is most over-represented in New York: since 1912 it was given 2.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Melvyn with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
How common is the spelling Melvyn?
Melvyn is a less common spelling of Melvin: SSA has recorded 4,370 Melvyn and 247,075 Melvin since 1880.
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 252,016 babies since 1880, Melvyn is the second most given (1.7% of them). In 2025 none of their 243 babies recorded by SSA was a Melvyn (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
More about Melvyn and names like it
- Compare Melvyn and MelvinBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sMelvyn peaked in 1938.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Melvyn since 1910.
- The top names of 1938The year the most babies were named Melvyn.
- The names of the Silent GenerationMost people named Melvyn alive today were born 1928-1945.
- Names starting with MMost given first.