Melinda

What does Melinda mean?

Melinda is an eighteenth-century name formed from Mel and the ending inda. Mel can come from Melanie, whose Greek root means “black” or “dark,” or Melissa, which means “bee” in Greek.

The name became established in both English and Hungarian. Its history includes a major Hungarian stage character, while actress Melinda Dillon gives it a recognizable connection with twentieth-century American film.

A name created from familiar elements

The similar sound of Belinda may also have helped inspire Melinda.

Melanie and Melissa bring different older histories to the group. Melanie comes through French and Latin from Greek melaina, “dark,” while Melissa is the Greek word for a bee and also appears in Greek myth.

Melinda's own spelling gives the name three syllables, with a distinct middle emphasis in English. Mindy became an established familiar form, while Malinda is a related spelling.

Melinda in Bánk Bán

The character Melinda helped popularize the name in Hungary through József Katona's play Bánk Bán. The story places her family within the political and personal conflicts surrounding the royal court.

Ferenc Erkel later made the drama into an opera. The complete work premiered at Pest's National Theatre on March 9, 1861, after a long period of composition and delays.

Melinda is the wife of Bánk, the country's viceroy. While the king is away, pressure from the queen's circle threatens both her family and the stability of the court. Her story gives the name a substantial place in Hungarian literary and operatic culture.

Melinda Dillon and Close Encounters

Actress Melinda Dillon gives the name an American screen association. She starred in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, released in 1977, alongside Richard Dreyfuss.

The film follows ordinary people whose lives change after encounters with unidentified flying objects. Dillon's performance became one of the best-known roles of her career and earned an Academy Award nomination.

Close Encounters entered the National Film Registry in 2007. The film's lasting visibility has kept Dillon's full name familiar to science-fiction audiences across several generations.

Pronunciation and familiar forms

English Melinda is pronounced muh-LIN-duh, with stress on the middle syllable. Hungarian places stress at the beginning, producing a different rhythm from the English form.

Mindy is the established English nickname. Mel is another related familiar form, while Malinda and Melina belong to the wider group of related names. Melanie and Melissa explain the older names that contributed the opening.

Melinda in the United States

Melinda's largest annual American girls' count was 4,225 in 1970. Its best national rank came in 1973, at No. 72. It ranked No. 1,365 in 2015 and No. 1,985 in 2025. Its strongest American period therefore belongs to the later twentieth century.

How popular is Melinda?

In 2025, Melinda ranked #1,985 among girls in the United States, with 97 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1880; its largest annual count was 4,225 in 1970. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.