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Merril

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Sea, through Muriel

Merril has been given to 992 babies in the U.S. since 1910. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1920, with 37 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 86% boys, 14% girls all-time.

Babies named Merril, 2008

1 in 786,000

Merril over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2008, Merril went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19102008

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.

Merril: meaning, origin, and history

Sea, through Muriel

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Merril means

Merril belongs to the name family reached through Merril → Muriel. Its meaning is “sea”.

Origin, language, and formation

Merril is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Muriel.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 858 boys were recorded with the name Merril between 1910 and 2008. Its highest annual count was 37 in 1920; its best national rank was #1,201 in 1920.

In the United States, 134 girls were recorded with the name Merril between 1914 and 1967. Its highest annual count was 12 in 1950; its best national rank was #2,934 in 1942.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Merril?

Merril had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2008, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2008
1 in 786,000
5 of 3,930,727 births
Among boys only
1 in 408,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2008
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
544,916 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Merril 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 2008 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 544,916 children born in 2008 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Merril. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Merrils were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Merril was born before 1929 — so the typical Merril is around 96 today.

Median birth year
1929
About 96 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
30.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
0.58%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
128
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 30.7% of all recorded uses (263).

Is Merril 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1920 (37)
Years since peak
105
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
34.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,201
1920

Spellings of Merril

Merril is not the most common spelling — Morris is, with 41.4% against Merril's 0.50%.

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 Merril is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Merril was most concentrated in Kentucky — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 557,655 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Kentucky1 in —
  2. 2Pennsylvania1 in —
  3. 3Wisconsin1 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. Merril has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Merril is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Merril was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 833,760 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 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. Merril has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Merril around the world

Where Merril 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.

  • France
    1976–1976
    #2,256
    in 1976

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Merril by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,201
1920
Peak year
1920
37 that year
First recorded
1910
Last recorded
2008
All-time count
858
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,934
1942
Peak year
1950
12 that year
First recorded
1914
Last recorded
1967
All-time count
134
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Merril

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

MerilMercerMerrikMerwynMercedMerlynMerickMerikJibrilMervynMerwinJabrilMertMercyMeritMercuryMerrellMericMerrelMerrickMervinMerylMerrittMerrit

Sibling names for Merril

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 Merril

Top names of 1920, Merril's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1920Boys' names starting with M