# Merle (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/merle/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | French |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 45,389 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 30,666 / 14,723 (32% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 56, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from French Merle.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 7 | 8,641 |
| 1980 | 5 | 11,496 |
| 1981 | 13 | 5,472 |
| 1982 | 8 | 7,942 |
| 1984 | 6 | 9,911 |
| 1986 | 6 | 10,401 |
| 1987 | 6 | 10,752 |
| 1989 | 13 | 6,408 |
| 1991 | 5 | 14,585 |
| 1992 | 6 | 12,795 |
| 1993 | 6 | 12,873 |
| 1995 | 6 | 12,791 |
| 2003 | 5 | 17,471 |
| 2004 | 5 | 17,897 |
| 2025 | 5 | 16,474 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 18 | 5,122 |
| 2012 | 9 | 8,639 |
| 2013 | 16 | 5,556 |
| 2014 | 15 | 5,902 |
| 2015 | 21 | 4,653 |
| 2016 | 14 | 6,234 |
| 2017 | 20 | 4,874 |
| 2018 | 23 | 4,443 |
| 2019 | 22 | 4,589 |
| 2020 | 33 | 3,388 |
| 2021 | 22 | 4,589 |
| 2022 | 27 | 4,059 |
| 2023 | 40 | 3,098 |
| 2024 | 22 | 4,654 |
| 2025 | 33 | 3,485 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 3 | 3,795 |
| 1997 | 3 | 3,824 |
| 1998 | 3 | 3,848 |
| 2000 | 4 | 3,247 |
| 2001 | 5 | 2,783 |
| 2002 | 7 | 2,301 |
| 2004 | 4 | 3,725 |
| 2007 | 4 | 4,294 |
| 2009 | 5 | 3,936 |
| 2010 | 4 | 4,688 |
| 2011 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2013 | 4 | 4,739 |
| 2015 | 4 | 4,736 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,927 |

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.