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Mercy

#867 in 2025Girls' name

English word name: mercy

Mercy has been given to 10,864 babies in the U.S. since 1881. In 2025 it ranked #867 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2019, with 441 recorded.

Babies named Mercy, 2025

1 in 10,600

Mercy over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Mercy: meaning, origin, and history

English word name: mercy

English

What Mercy means

Mercy takes the English word mercy into personal-name use.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From mercy in the 17th century; one of the less common Puritan virtue names. In modern use sometimes used to anglicize Spanish Mercedes.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Mercy (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Mercy is used in English and Tagalog. Its origins include English.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Tagalog, Mercy is pronounced /ˈmeɾsi/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 10,632 girls were recorded with the name Mercy between 1881 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 441 in 2019; its best national rank was #611 in 1881.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #801 in 2020 to #867 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,013 in 2015 to #867 in 2025.

In the United States, 232 boys were recorded with the name Mercy between 1919 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 28 in 2023; its best national rank was #3,956 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #5,389 in 2020 to #4,210 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #7,377 in 2015 to #4,210 in 2025.

How common is Mercy?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 10,600
313 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 5,130
0.02% of girls
Rank, 2025
#867
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
7,343 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Mercy 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 5005%

Put another way: gather 7,343 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Mercy. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Mercys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Mercy was born before 2009 — so the typical Mercy is around 16 today.

Median birth year
2009
About 16 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
29.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
61.9%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
9,182
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 29.5% of all recorded uses (3,136).

Is Mercy 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
−20
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−66
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+146
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.18×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
71.0%
Peak was 2019 (441)
Years since peak
6
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
9.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#611
1881

Spellings of Mercy

Mercy is not the most common spelling — Mary is, with 91.6% against Mercy's 0.24%.

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 Mercy is used

Across 2016–2025, Mercy was most concentrated in Indiana — about 1 in 1,961 girls, against 1 in 4,088 across all states with data. It was least common in Massachusetts (1 in 11,111).

951 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Indiana1 in 1,961
  2. 2Tennessee1 in 2,000
  3. 3Oklahoma1 in 2,326
  4. 4Alabama1 in 2,500
  5. 5Iowa1 in 2,500
  6. 6Kentucky1 in 2,500
  7. 7Minnesota1 in 2,500
  8. 8Oregon1 in 2,564

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.

Geographically, Mercy is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 29% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Mercy around the world

Where Mercy ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,197
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2009–2025
    #780
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2001–2022
    #747
    in 2022
  • France
    2012–2023
    #3,073
    in 2023
  • Canada
    1994–2024
    #1,399
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1944–2011
    #514
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Mercy

People whose public names include Mercy, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Mercy by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#867
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 66
Best rank ever
#611
1881
Peak year
2019
441 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
10,632
Count in 2025
313

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#4,210
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,179
Best rank ever
#3,956
2023
Peak year
2023
28 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
232
Count in 2025
25

Names similar to Mercy

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

MerryMerleMerylMarcyDarcyMeriMerciMerriMerlynMeridaMerrittMernaMerariMerrillMerlinMerrieMercedezMeritMeryemMeraMerynMercedesMeraryMertie

Names with a curve like Mercy

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Mercy, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

EliaLiviaArdenAnnaleeEmmyRivkaEmeliaAmaliaLoreleiKennaKaiBelen

Sibling names for Mercy

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 Mercy

Top names of 2019, Mercy's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1881Girls' names starting with MAngel NamesVirtue Names