Name Awesome

Merida

#2,677 in 2025Girls' name

Modern coinage; no established literal translation

Merida has been given to 1,572 babies in the U.S. since 1916. In 2025 it ranked #2,677 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2017, with 116 recorded.

Babies named Merida, 2025

1 in 51,000

Merida over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Merida: meaning, origin, and history

Modern coinage; no established literal translation

coinages

What Merida means

Merida is a modern given name.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Uncertain. Possibly a coinage based on Mary, or transferred from the Spanish place name Mérida.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Merida is used in English. Its origins include coinages.

Merida is a modern formation.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Merida is pronounced /ˈmɛ(ə)ɹ.ɪ.də/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,567 girls were recorded with the name Merida between 1916 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 116 in 2017; its best national rank was #1,796 in 2017.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,045 in 2020 to #2,677 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,009 in 2015 to #2,677 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Merida between 1880 and 1880. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1880; its best national rank was #1,013 in 1880.

How common is Merida?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 51,000
65 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 24,700
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#2,677
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
35,353 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Merida 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 35,353 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Merida. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Meridas were born

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

Median birth year
2016
About 9 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
45.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
76.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,433
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 45.9% of all recorded uses (719).

Is Merida 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
−226
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−632
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−668
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.66×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
56.0%
Peak was 2017 (116)
Years since peak
8
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
42.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,796
2017

Spellings of Merida

Merida is not the most common spelling — Maria is, with 43.2% against Merida's 0.12%.

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 Merida is used

Across 2016–2025, Merida was most concentrated in Texas — about 1 in 12,500 girls, against 1 in 22,765 across all states with data. It was least common in North Carolina (1 in 100,000).

18 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Texas1 in 12,500
  2. 2California1 in 16,667
  3. 3Indiana1 in 16,667
  4. 4Missouri1 in 16,667
  5. 5Washington1 in 25,000
  6. 6Colorado1 in 33,333
  7. 7Florida1 in 33,333
  8. 8Ohio1 in 33,333

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.

Merida around the world

Where Merida 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
    2013–2025
    #3,035
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2013–2025
    #539
    in 2025
  • France
    2017–2025
    #4,354
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2013–2023
    #1,786
    in 2023

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Merida by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,677
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 632
Best rank ever
#1,796
2017
Peak year
2017
116 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,567
Count in 2025
65

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,013
1880
Peak year
1880
5 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
1880
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Merida

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

MerlynMerariMerlinMeryemMerrillMeraryMercieMerrilyMerciMeriamMertieMerrittAleidaMeritaMerrynMerrieMerrinMeriahFaridaMerrickMerylMeriMercerNaida

Sibling names for Merida

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 Merida

Top names of 2017, Merida's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2017Girls' names starting with MDisney Heroine NamesMovie & TV Names