Merrell
Merrell was last recorded in 2015, when 6 babies were given it; 1,319 Americans have been recorded with it between 1911 and 2015 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Merrell by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Merrell mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Merrell is “a male given name.”
Variant of Muriel.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Merrell?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #11,627, in 2015; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
36 babies in 1927, the peak
Merrell peaked in 1927, when 36 babies were given it (24 boys, #1,585 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | under 5 | 6 | #11,627 | |
| 2012 | under 5 | 8 | #9,414 | |
| 2010 | under 5 | 5 | #13,588 | |
| 2005 | under 5 | 5 | #12,697 | |
| 2001 | under 5 | 5 | #11,720 | |
| 2000 | under 5 | 5 | #11,560 | |
| 1998 | under 5 | 5 | #10,725 | |
| 1994 | under 5 | 9 | #6,176 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 6 | #8,100 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 12 | #4,659 |
Every recorded year (85)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | under 5 | 10 | #5,249 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 5 | #8,786 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 5 | #8,095 | |
| 1987 | under 5 | 6 | #6,661 | |
| 1986 | under 5 | 10 | #4,353 | |
| 1985 | 5 | #11,810 | under 5 | |
| 1982 | under 5 | 5 | #7,012 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 7 | #5,288 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 13 | #3,369 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 5 | #6,716 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 9 | #4,051 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 13 | #3,142 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 14 | #2,856 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 15 | #2,632 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 7 | #4,349 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 16 | #2,392 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 15 | #2,514 | |
| 1969 | 5 | #8,232 | under 5 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 15 | #2,160 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 10 | #2,715 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 12 | #2,411 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 8 | #3,199 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 5 | #4,430 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 12 | #2,465 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 9 | #3,033 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 10 | #2,800 | |
| 1959 | 6 | #6,013 | 9 | #2,974 |
| 1958 | 5 | #6,708 | 12 | #2,460 |
| 1957 | under 5 | 12 | #2,447 | |
| 1956 | 7 | #5,160 | 17 | #1,995 |
| 1955 | 10 | #3,972 | 12 | #2,391 |
| 1954 | 5 | #6,329 | 17 | #1,939 |
| 1953 | under 5 | 13 | #2,251 | |
| 1952 | 5 | #6,134 | 19 | #1,786 |
| 1951 | under 5 | 18 | #1,813 | |
| 1950 | 5 | #5,846 | 21 | #1,642 |
| 1949 | under 5 | 21 | #1,650 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 16 | #1,916 | |
| 1947 | 7 | #4,633 | 18 | #1,830 |
| 1946 | under 5 | 15 | #1,927 | |
| 1945 | 6 | #4,374 | 17 | #1,673 |
| 1944 | 6 | #4,387 | 13 | #2,049 |
| 1943 | 5 | #5,137 | 27 | #1,355 |
| 1942 | 6 | #4,478 | 20 | #1,618 |
| 1941 | under 5 | 25 | #1,360 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 24 | #1,389 | |
| 1939 | 6 | #4,108 | 17 | #1,691 |
| 1938 | under 5 | 16 | #1,791 | |
| 1937 | 5 | #4,712 | 13 | #2,061 |
| 1936 | under 5 | 17 | #1,702 | |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,680 | 16 | #1,808 |
| 1934 | 5 | #4,764 | 9 | #2,689 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,658 | 15 | #1,884 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,802 | 16 | #1,895 |
| 1931 | under 5 | 22 | #1,520 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 21 | #1,636 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 20 | #1,710 | |
| 1928 | 9 | #3,364 | 25 | #1,503 |
| 1927 | 12 | #2,803 | 24 | #1,585 |
| 1926 | 7 | #4,161 | 17 | #1,960 |
| 1925 | under 5 | 26 | #1,483 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 14 | #2,313 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 25 | #1,534 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 26 | #1,490 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 25 | #1,532 | |
| 1920 | 6 | #4,774 | 18 | #1,935 |
| 1919 | under 5 | 17 | #1,938 | |
| 1918 | under 5 | 22 | #1,635 | |
| 1917 | 5 | #5,063 | 19 | #1,735 |
| 1916 | under 5 | 18 | #1,740 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 27 | #1,293 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 11 | #2,058 | |
| 1913 | under 5 | 9 | #2,041 | |
| 1912 | under 5 | 6 | #2,461 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 5 | #1,920 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Merrell a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,319 Americans recorded as Merrell, 12% are girls and 88% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Merrell: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Merrell, and how old are they?
An estimated 539 Americans named Merrell and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (41% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 48 and 76. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 745 people named Merrell (197 women and girls, 548 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 643 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 spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 17,885 babies since 1880, Merrell is the second most given (7.4% of them). In 2025 none of their 22 babies recorded by SSA was a Merrell (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.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Merrell
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 Merrell and names like it
- Compare Merrell and MerrillBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sMerrell peaked in 1927.
- Georgia’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Merrell since 1910.
- The top names of 1927The year the most babies were named Merrell.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Merrell alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with MMost given first.