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Meryl

#8,687 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Sea, through Muriel

Meryl has been given to 5,599 babies in the U.S. since 1892. In 2025 it ranked #8,687 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1956, with 156 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 92% girls, 8% boys all-time.

Babies named Meryl, 2025

1 in 276,000

Meryl over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2025, Meryl went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18922025

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.

Meryl: meaning, origin, and history

Sea, through Muriel

Scottish Gaelic

What Meryl means

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

Origin, language, and formation

Meryl is used in English. Its origins include Scottish Gaelic.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Muriel.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,167 girls were recorded with the name Meryl between 1892 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 156 in 1956; its best national rank was #750 in 1952.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,598 in 2020 to #8,687 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,290 in 2015 to #8,687 in 2025.

In the United States, 432 boys were recorded with the name Meryl between 1912 and 1967. Its highest annual count was 18 in 1921; its best national rank was #1,900 in 1931.

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 Meryl?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 276,000
12 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 134,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#8,687
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
191,493 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Meryl 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 191,493 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Meryl. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Meryls were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Meryl was born before 1958 — so the typical Meryl is around 67 today.

Median birth year
1958
About 67 years old
Biggest decade
1950s
24.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
10.8%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
3,667
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1950s — 24.8% of all recorded uses (1,283).

Is Meryl 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
−3,136
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−3,089
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−5,397
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.24×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
7.7%
Peak was 1956 (156)
Years since peak
69
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
32.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#750
1952

Spellings of Meryl

Meryl is not the most common spelling — Mary is, with 86.1% against Meryl's 0.11%.

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 Meryl is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Meryl was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 7,692 girls, against 1 in 36,029 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

013 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 7,692
  2. 2New Jersey1 in 20,000
  3. 3Massachusetts1 in 33,333
  4. 4Pennsylvania1 in 50,000
  5. 5California1 in 100,000
  6. 6Illinois1 in 100,000
  7. 7Louisiana1 in 100,000
  8. 8Florida1 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. Meryl has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Meryl is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Meryl was most concentrated in Illinois — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,039,521 across all states with data. It was least common in Kansas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Illinois1 in —
  2. 2Kansas1 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. Meryl has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Meryl around the world

Where Meryl 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
    1996–2024
    #3,696
    in 2024
  • Scotland
    1986–2024
    #790
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    2014–2025
    #885
    in 2025
  • France
    1969–2025
    #794
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1997–2020
    #2,626
    in 2020
  • South Australia
    1944–2010
    #801
    in 2010

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.

Meryl by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#8,687
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,089
Best rank ever
#750
1952
Peak year
1956
156 that year
First recorded
1892
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5,167
Count in 2025
12

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,900
1931
Peak year
1921
18 that year
First recorded
1912
Last recorded
1967
All-time count
432
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Meryl

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

MerryMercyMerleMerrylMeriMerciMerriAprylMerlynBerylMeridaMerrittMernaMerariMerrillMerlinDarylMerrieCarylMercedezMeritMeryemMeraMeryn

Names with a curve like Meryl

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

KathyrnJaneyMaritaHerlindaBonnyEllynMerrillRoseanneAletaRoseannaNenaRosita

Sibling names for Meryl

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 Meryl

Top names of 1956, Meryl's peak yearThe 1950s in fullOther names that peaked in 1952Girls' names starting with M