Merrel — boys' name
259 babies named Merrel in U.S. Social Security records since 1908, with the highest year being 1922. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
34% of everyone ever named Merrel was born in this single decade.
15 babies were named Merrel in 1922 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Merrel
The Social Security Administration has registered 259 babies named Merrel between 1908 and 1955, spanning 48 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Merrel currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 1955. The name reached its historical peak in 1922, when 15 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Merrel performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 89 births during that ten-year window. Across the 6 decades of recorded activity, Merrel shows a clear decline from its mid-century high.
No etymological entry is currently available for Merrel in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 259 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Merrel at a glance
Last recorded 1955Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Merrel popularity over time — boys
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1955–1908
- Peak year (1922)
- 15
- Annual births at peak — across 48 years of records
No longer in the modern top-1000 — last recorded 1955.
259 total births across 48 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1922 with 15 births in a single year.
Merrel popularity over time — girls
10 total births recorded since 1917 (Merrel as girls' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The girls' variant of Merrel accounts for 4% of total recorded use across both genders.
Merrel by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1920s
- 89 births that decade — 34% of Merrel's all-time total
Merrel decade highlights
- Peak decade 89 births
- Runner-up 59 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1920s was Merrel's strongest decade
89 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 34% of all-time use.
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Keep exploring Merrel
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1908–1955 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.