Name Awesome

Merrill

#6,329 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Sea, through Muriel

Merrill has been given to 15,065 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #6,329 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1926, with 305 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 86% boys, 14% girls all-time.

Babies named Merrill, 2025

1 in 237,000

Merrill over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2025, Merrill went to 36% girls and 64% boys.

18802025

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.

Merrill: meaning, origin, and history

Sea, through Muriel

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Merrill means

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

Origin, language, and formation

Merrill is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Muriel.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 12,988 boys were recorded with the name Merrill between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 305 in 1926; its best national rank was #321 in 1916.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #11,519 in 2020 to #6,329 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #6,941 in 2015 to #6,329 in 2025.

In the United States, 2,077 girls were recorded with the name Merrill between 1905 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 52 in 1949; its best national rank was #1,240 in 1942.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #10,829 in 2020 to #11,576 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #9,322 in 2015 to #11,576 in 2025.

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 Merrill?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 237,000
14 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 122,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#6,329
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
164,137 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Merrill 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 164,137 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Merrill. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Merrills were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Merrill was born before 1934 — so the typical Merrill is around 91 today.

Median birth year
1934
About 91 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
21.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
1.6%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
3,420
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 21.7% of all recorded uses (2,820).

Is Merrill 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
+5,540
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+5,190
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+612
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.17×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
4.6%
Peak was 1926 (305)
Years since peak
99
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
35.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#321
1916

Spellings of Merrill

Merrill is not the most common spelling — Terrell is, with 41.2% against Merrill's 14.7%.

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 Merrill is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Merrill was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 2,703 boys, against 1 in 20,306 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

037 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 2,703
  2. 2Iowa1 in 3,571
  3. 3Maine1 in 4,000
  4. 4Vermont1 in 4,000
  5. 5Indiana1 in 6,250
  6. 6Idaho1 in 7,692
  7. 7Minnesota1 in 8,333
  8. 8Kansas1 in 10,000

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. Merrill has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Merrill is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Merrill was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 50,000 girls, against 1 in 102,897 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in —).

02 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 50,000
  2. 2Michigan1 in —
  3. 3North Carolina1 in —
  4. 4New Jersey1 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. Merrill has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Merrill around the world

Where Merrill 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
    2003–2003
    #3,467
    in 2003

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Notable people named Merrill

People whose public names include Merrill, 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.

Merrill by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#6,329
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 5,190
Best rank ever
#321
1916
Peak year
1926
305 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
12,988
Count in 2025
14

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,576
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 747
Best rank ever
#1,240
1942
Peak year
1949
52 that year
First recorded
1905
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,077
Count in 2025
8

Names similar to Merrill

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

MerrittMervinMerrickMerlinMerlynMerleMercerMeredithMertonTerrillMerrellMerwinMervynMercuryMerrikMerrilWillMerwynMercedMerickMerlMerikSherrillKirill

Names with a curve like Merrill

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

OdellWeldonDelmarBufordMaynardThurmanWilfordVernRollandHerschelClairHershel

Sibling names for Merrill

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 Merrill

Top names of 1926, Merrill's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1916Boys' names starting with M