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Mercury

#8,026 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Possibly to trade or wages

Mercury has been given to 300 babies in the U.S. since 1972. In 2025 it ranked #8,026 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 16 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 69% boys, 31% girls all-time.

Babies named Mercury, 2025

1 in 332,000

Mercury over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Mercury over time

In 2025, Mercury went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19722025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Mercury: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly to trade or wages

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Mercury means

Mercury may mean “to trade or wages”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 206 boys were recorded with the name Mercury between 1972 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 16 in 2023; its best national rank was #3,150 in 1973.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #13,388 in 2020 to #8,026 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #8,479 in 2015 to #8,026 in 2025.

In the United States, 94 girls were recorded with the name Mercury between 2009 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 16 in 2023; its best national rank was #7,149 in 2023.

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.

How common is Mercury?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 332,000
10 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 171,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#8,026
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
229,791 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Mercury sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 229,791 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Mercury. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Mercurys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Mercury was born before 2016 — so the typical Mercury is around 9 today.

Median birth year
2016
About 9 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
34.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
71.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
206
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 34.0% of all recorded uses (70).

Is Mercury 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
+96
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+5,362
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+453
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.11×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
62.5%
Peak was 2023 (16)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
41.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,150
1973

Spellings of Mercury

Mercury is not the most common spelling — Mercer is, with 86.7% against Mercury's 13.3%.

  • Mercer86.7%1,345
  • Mercury13.3%206

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 Mercury is used

Across 1910–2025, Mercury was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 3,486,540 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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. Mercury has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Mercury by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,026
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 5,362
Best rank ever
#3,150
1973
Peak year
2023
16 that year
First recorded
1972
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
206
Count in 2025
10

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#7,149
2023
Peak year
2023
16 that year
First recorded
2009
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
94
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Mercury

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

MerickMerrikMeritMercyMericMerlandMerikMerritMerlonMerricMerrelMerionMerdithMervilJamauryMervilleMercedesMercerMerciMerelMerrellKamauryMerlenMeril

Sibling names for Mercury

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

Explore around Mercury

Top names of 2023, Mercury's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1973Boys' names starting with MAncient Names Outside the Top 1000Roman Mythology Names