Melbourne
Masculine · “the mill stream”
Melbourne was nearly called Batmania. The settlement on the Yarra was founded by a syndicate led by a man called John Batman, several of the early names proposed were built on his, and it was only when the governor intervened that it was named after the British prime minister of the day instead.
How old is the name Melbourne?
Melbourne first appears in US birth records in 1890 — 135 years ago. The typical Melbourne alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 200 people named Melbourne are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Melbourne most popular?
Melbourne peaked in 1901, reaching #943 nationally. See the whole 1901 chart.
Where it comes from
From an Old English village name meaning the mill stream to Melbourne
The story of Melbourne
Lord Melbourne is remembered less for his politics than for what he did in the first years of a young queen's reign: he was the prime minister who taught Victoria how to be one, spending hours a day with her, and she was miserable when his government fell. The Australian city was named while he was in office. Batman, meanwhile, had signed a treaty with the local Wurundjeri people to buy the land, which the government promptly declared void on the grounds that only the Crown could acquire land from anybody — a ruling with consequences that took a hundred and fifty years to unwind.
Meaning
the mill stream
The English village that supplies the name is in Derbyshire and means the stream with a mill on it — two of the plainest words in Old English. The title went to a family who took it from the village, one of whom became prime minister, and the Australian city was named for him. So the second largest city in Australia is called after a watermill in the Midlands, at three removes.
How the name formed
- an Old English village name meaning the mill stream
- an English family takes the title from the village
- a prime minister carries it in the 1830s
- an Australian settlement is named after him
- used as an American first name from the 1890s
Related forms: Melburn · Milburn
Pronouncing Melbourne
MEL-burn
Two syllables, stress at the front, and the second syllable swallowed — which is how the Australians say the city and how the English say the village.
Nicknames for Melbourne
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1890
- Most boys named
- 192042 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #943reached in 1901
- Change vs 1979
- +40.0%7 in 1989, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Melbourne in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Melburn in English — spelling variant
- Milburn in English — related form
Melbournes among us
people named Melbourne are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Melbourne sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Mel is available and works for a child of either sex.
- The meaning is concrete and plain: a stream with a mill on it.
- It is genuinely unrepeated as a first name.
- It is the name of a large city, and that will be the association everywhere.
- It reads as a surname or a place rather than a first name.
- It has been out of American use for a century.
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What they receive
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Melbourne
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Melbournes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Melbourne are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Melbourne in 2025?
- Melbourne is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Melbourne with classmates?
- Melbourne will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Michael#21 · Matthew#32 · Mark#244 · Mason#39 · Martin#335 · Marvin#699 · Melvin#958 · Marcus#258
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Melbourne? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Melbourne and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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