Name Awesome

Merritt

#1,505 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Boundary gate

Merritt has been given to 9,382 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,505 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1924, with 121 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 66% boys, 34% girls all-time.

Babies named Merritt, 2025

1 in 28,300

Merritt over time, 1880–2025

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Merritt over time

In 2025, Merritt went to 77% girls and 23% 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.

Merritt: meaning, origin, and history

Boundary gate

surname transfer

What Merritt means

Merritt means “boundary gate”.

Origin, language, and formation

Merritt is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Merritt is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,151 boys were recorded with the name Merritt between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 121 in 1924; its best national rank was #400 in 1899.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,862 in 2020 to #1,505 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,032 in 2015 to #1,505 in 2025.

In the United States, 3,231 girls were recorded with the name Merritt between 1919 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 401 in 2025; its best national rank was #703 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,531 in 2020 to #703 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,308 in 2015 to #703 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 Merritt?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 28,300
117 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 14,600
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,505
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
19,641 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Merritt 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 19,641 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Merritt. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Merritts were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Merritt was born before 1946 — so the typical Merritt is around 79 today.

Median birth year
1946
About 79 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
15.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
23.7%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,903
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 15.7% of all recorded uses (966).

Is Merritt 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
+395
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+357
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+527
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.65×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
96.7%
Peak was 1924 (121)
Years since peak
101
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
13.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#400
1899

Spellings of Merritt

Merritt is not the most common spelling — Merrill is, with 43.4% against Merritt's 20.6%.

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 Merritt is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Merritt was most concentrated in Nebraska — about 1 in 7,692 boys, against 1 in 30,188 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 100,000).

113 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Nebraska1 in 7,692
  2. 2Oklahoma1 in 11,111
  3. 3Alabama1 in 12,500
  4. 4North Carolina1 in 14,286
  5. 5Georgia1 in 20,000
  6. 6Texas1 in 20,000
  7. 7Florida1 in 25,000
  8. 8Missouri1 in 25,000

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.

Where Merritt is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Merritt was most concentrated in Nebraska — about 1 in 1,667 girls, against 1 in 7,777 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in 50,000).

260 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Nebraska1 in 1,667
  2. 2Alabama1 in 2,083
  3. 3Arkansas1 in 2,326
  4. 4North Carolina1 in 2,439
  5. 5Tennessee1 in 2,703
  6. 6South Carolina1 in 3,125
  7. 7Kentucky1 in 3,333
  8. 8Mississippi1 in 3,448

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.

Merritt around the world

Where Merritt 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.

  • Canada
    2017–2024
    #3,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1954–1999
    #539
    in 1999

Popularity data from Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Merritt

People whose public names include Merritt, 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.

Merritt by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,505
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 357
Best rank ever
#400
1899
Peak year
1924
121 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,151
Count in 2025
117

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#703
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 828
Best rank ever
#703
2025
Peak year
2025
401 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,231
Count in 2025
401

Names similar to Merritt

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

MerrickMerrillMerlynMervinMerlinDewittMercerMeredithMertonEmmittMerrellMerittMerleMerwinMervynTruittMercuryMerrikHewittMerrilMerwynMercedMerickBritt

Names with a curve like Merritt

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

CrawfordJenningsOrinHendersonValentineMahlonNobleJulesWarnerEmileHardyEvans

Sibling names for Merritt

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 Merritt

Top names of 1924, Merritt's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1899Boys' names starting with M