Merita
Merita was last recorded in 1999, when 7 babies were given it; 1,121 Americans have been recorded with it between 1912 and 1999 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Merita by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Merita mean?
Wiktionary, Finnish section
Merita is “a female given name”
From Latin merita, the feminine of meritus.
/ˈmeritɑ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, Finnish section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Merita?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #12,212, in 1999; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
46 babies in 1955, the peak
Merita peaked in 1955, when 46 girls were given it, #1,505 among girls’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 7 | #12,212 | 3.9 |
| 1997 | 9 | #9,538 | 5.2 |
| 1996 | 6 | #12,889 | 3.4 |
| 1995 | 7 | #11,317 | 4.0 |
| 1994 | 7 | #11,334 | 3.9 |
| 1993 | 5 | #14,946 | 2.8 |
| 1992 | 5 | #14,702 | 2.7 |
| 1988 | 5 | #13,127 | 2.8 |
| 1986 | 7 | #9,191 | 4.1 |
| 1984 | 8 | #7,878 | 4.8 |
Every recorded year (75)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 5 | #11,350 | 3.0 |
| 1982 | 5 | #11,627 | 3.0 |
| 1980 | 7 | #8,732 | 4.2 |
| 1979 | 7 | #8,638 | 4.4 |
| 1978 | 9 | #6,734 | 5.9 |
| 1977 | 6 | #9,211 | 3.9 |
| 1976 | 5 | #10,283 | 3.4 |
| 1974 | 8 | #6,635 | 5.5 |
| 1972 | 8 | #6,346 | 5.3 |
| 1971 | 5 | #9,141 | 3.0 |
| 1970 | 16 | #3,816 | 9.2 |
| 1969 | 10 | #4,926 | 5.9 |
| 1968 | 13 | #3,926 | 7.9 |
| 1967 | 12 | #3,982 | 7.3 |
| 1966 | 11 | #4,119 | 6.5 |
| 1965 | 15 | #3,366 | 8.5 |
| 1964 | 23 | #2,640 | 12.1 |
| 1963 | 20 | #2,832 | 10.4 |
| 1962 | 15 | #3,385 | 7.6 |
| 1961 | 23 | #2,581 | 11.4 |
| 1960 | 17 | #3,068 | 8.4 |
| 1959 | 30 | #2,091 | 14.8 |
| 1958 | 23 | #2,429 | 11.4 |
| 1957 | 33 | #1,915 | 16.1 |
| 1956 | 35 | #1,819 | 17.4 |
| 1955 | 46 | #1,505 | 23.5 |
| 1954 | 29 | #1,973 | 14.9 |
| 1953 | 27 | #2,001 | 14.4 |
| 1952 | 25 | #2,060 | 13.5 |
| 1951 | 28 | #1,868 | 15.5 |
| 1950 | 26 | #1,894 | 15.2 |
| 1949 | 29 | #1,791 | 17.0 |
| 1948 | 28 | #1,806 | 16.5 |
| 1947 | 27 | #1,886 | 15.2 |
| 1946 | 18 | #2,285 | 11.5 |
| 1945 | 13 | #2,557 | 9.9 |
| 1944 | 18 | #2,068 | 13.6 |
| 1943 | 23 | #1,818 | 16.5 |
| 1942 | 20 | #1,956 | 14.8 |
| 1941 | 22 | #1,727 | 18.2 |
| 1940 | 28 | #1,459 | 24.5 |
| 1939 | 21 | #1,711 | 19.1 |
| 1938 | 16 | #2,083 | 14.5 |
| 1937 | 25 | #1,525 | 23.5 |
| 1936 | 15 | #2,115 | 14.4 |
| 1935 | 18 | #1,892 | 17.2 |
| 1934 | 18 | #1,886 | 17.2 |
| 1933 | 11 | #2,639 | 10.9 |
| 1932 | 20 | #1,795 | 18.7 |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,525 | 11.3 |
| 1930 | 20 | #1,849 | 17.8 |
| 1929 | 13 | #2,533 | 11.6 |
| 1928 | 15 | #2,349 | 13.0 |
| 1927 | 6 | #4,639 | 5.0 |
| 1926 | 8 | #3,787 | 6.7 |
| 1925 | 10 | #3,288 | 8.2 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,577 | 7.2 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,860 | 6.6 |
| 1922 | 8 | #3,897 | 6.7 |
| 1921 | 6 | #4,894 | 4.9 |
| 1920 | 6 | #4,773 | 5.0 |
| 1918 | 5 | #5,341 | 4.3 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,974 | 6.5 |
| 1914 | 5 | #4,005 | 6.6 |
| 1912 | 5 | #3,284 | 9.0 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Merita a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Merita has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 75 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Merita: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Merita, and how old are they?
An estimated 686 Americans named Merita and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (61% of everyone recorded); the median is 69 years old and half are between 59 and 76. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 1,303 people named Merita (1,303 women and girls, 0 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 789 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.7 times 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 Merita
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 Merita and names like it
- Compare Merita and CarleneBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sMerita peaked in 1955.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Merita since 1910.
- Finnish namesWiktionary’s origin for Merita: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1955The year the most babies were named Merita.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Merita alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with MMost given first.