Memory

#6,739 in 2025Girls' name

Mindful, remembering

Memory has been given to 1,356 babies in the U.S. since 1922. In 2025 it ranked #6,739 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2006, with 36 recorded.

Babies named Memory, 2025

1 in 195,000

Memory over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Memory: meaning, origin, and history

Mindful, remembering

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Memory means

Memory means “mindful, remembering”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,350 girls were recorded with the name Memory between 1922 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 36 in 2006; its best national rank was #1,703 in 1946.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #10,026 in 2020 to #6,739 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #7,491 in 2015 to #6,739 in 2025.

In the United States, 6 boys were recorded with the name Memory between 1922 and 1922. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1922; its best national rank was #4,149 in 1922.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Memory?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 195,000; 17 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 94,500; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #6,739; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 135,172 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Memory sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 135,172 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Memory. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Memorys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Memory was born before 1985 — so the typical Memory is around 40 today.

Median birth year: 1985; About 40 years old
Biggest decade: 1970s; 15.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 31.0%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 1,166; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1970s — 15.2% of all recorded uses (205).

Is Memory rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: +4,073; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +3,287; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +752; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.06×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 47.2%; Peak was 2006 (36)
Years since peak: 19; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 30.5% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,703; 1946

Spellings of Memory

Memory is not the most common spelling — Melody is, with 59.0% against Memory's 0.69%.

Melody59.0%114,914
Emery22.5%43,837
Emory5.5%10,792
Merry5.3%10,369
Melony2.3%4,459
Emry1.2%2,368
Malory0.72%1,399
Emori0.71%1,386

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Memory is used

Across 1910–2025, Memory was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 348,893 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Mississippi1 in 100,000
2California1 in —
3Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Memory has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Memory by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #6,739
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 3,287
Best rank ever: #1,703; 1946
Peak year: 2006; 36 that year
First recorded: 1922
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 1,350
Count in 2025: 17

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,149; 1922
Peak year: 1922; 6 that year
First recorded: 1922
Last recorded: 1922
All-time count: 6
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Memory

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Malory Memphis Ellory Memorie Victory Story Memori Valory Kory Amory Avory Dory Emmory Glory Devory Theory Jory Marjory Tory Sahory Gregory Emory Cory Ivory

Sibling names for Memory

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Jazmyne Taniya Rhianna Jaiden Abagail Yahaira Jamya Abigale

For a brother

Kale Keven Aaden Zakary Nathen Donavon Shamar Jamarcus

Explore around Memory

Top names of 2006, Memory's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 1946 Girls' names starting with M