Myrtle — girls' name
136,478 babies named Myrtle in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1918. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
24% of everyone ever named Myrtle was born in this single decade.
4,076 babies were named Myrtle in 1918 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Myrtle
The Social Security Administration has registered 136,478 babies named Myrtle between 1880 and 2023, spanning 144 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Myrtle currently falls outside the top 1,000 girls' names for 2023. The name reached its historical peak in 1918, when 4,076 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Myrtle performed strongest in the 1910s, accumulating 32,432 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Myrtle shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in North Carolina, which accounts for 6,418 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and Kentucky. In total, SSA state-level files list Myrtle in 50 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Myrtle 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 136,478 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.
Myrtle at a glance
Last recorded 2023Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Myrtle popularity over time — girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2023–1880
- Peak year (1918)
- 4,076
- Annual births at peak — across 144 years of records
No longer in the modern top-1000 — last recorded 2023.
136,478 total births across 144 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1918 with 4,076 births in a single year.
Myrtle popularity over time — boys
498 total births recorded since 1880 (Myrtle as boys' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The boys' variant of Myrtle accounts for 0% of total recorded use across both genders.
Myrtle by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1910s
- 32,432 births that decade — 24% of Myrtle's all-time total
Myrtle decade highlights
- Peak decade 32,432 births
- Runner-up 30,569 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1910s was Myrtle's strongest decade
32,432 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 24% of all-time use.
Myrtle by state
Where Myrtle concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | North Carolina | | 6,418 | 4.7% |
| #2 | Texas | | 5,846 | 4.3% |
| #3 | Kentucky | | 4,634 | 3.4% |
| #4 | Alabama | | 4,306 | 3.2% |
| #5 | Pennsylvania | | 4,117 | 3.0% |
| #6 | Virginia | | 3,876 | 2.8% |
| #7 | Tennessee | | 3,787 | 2.8% |
| #8 | Louisiana | | 3,535 | 2.6% |
6,418 of 136,478 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 50 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- North Carolina 4.7% of nationwide
- Texas 4.3% of nationwide
- Kentucky 3.4% of nationwide
- Alabama 3.2% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 3.0% of nationwide
Recorded in 50 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
North Carolina accounts for 4.7% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Myrtle appears in 50 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Myrtle
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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, 1880–2023 (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.