Melony
Feminine · “black”
Change one unstressed vowel and the name lands on a fruit. Melanie's second syllable carries no stress, so its vowel is inaudible and any letter can be written there; the letter chosen here happens to make the first five letters spell melon.
How old is the name Melony?
Melony first appears in US birth records in 1945 — 80 years ago. The typical Melony alive today was born around 1977, making them about 48 years old. About 4,200 people named Melony are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Melony most popular?
Melony peaked in 1966, reaching #988 nationally. Today it ranks #6838, 5,850 places below that high. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From melaina to Melony
The story of Melony
English reduces every unstressed vowel to the same neutral sound, which means the letter written in an unstressed syllable is free: Melanie, Melony, Melany and Melinie would all be said identically. That freedom is what produces most American respellings, and it is usually harmless. Occasionally the letter chosen produces an existing word, and this is one of those cases. Melony appears in American records from the 1950s, peaks in 1966 at the height of Melanie's own run, and has been rare since; the fruit resemblance is the likeliest reason the spelling never established itself.
Meaning
black, dark
Greek melaina, the feminine of melas, black, is the source of Melanie. The English word melon is from Greek melopepon, an apple-gourd, and is unrelated. The resemblance in this spelling is a coincidence produced by the vowel substitution, not a connection.
How the name formed
- melaina
- Melania
- Melanie
- Melony
Related forms: Melanie · Melanie · Melania
Pronouncing Melony
MEL-uh-nee
Three syllables with the stress at the front. Melanie and Melony are identical aloud; the middle vowel is reduced to nothing in both.
Nicknames for Melony
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
- 1945
- Most girls named
- 1974116 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #988reached in 1966
- Change vs 2023
- −11.1%16 in 2025, from 18
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.
Melony in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Melanie in English — spelling variant
- Melanie in French — same name
- Melania in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Arizona.
Melonys among us
people named Melony are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 100,454 born in 2025 was named Melony
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Melony
- #6838
- Melony on the 2025 chart
- #935
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Melony went to 16 girls in 2025, but Meloni is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 25, which makes it the 935th most-given girls’ name of the year — 5,903 places above the chart.
- Melony16
- Meloni9
About 1 girl in 64,291 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 100,454 for Melony itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Allyn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Melony's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Allyn climbed just as high around 1951, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Allyn's path sketches the road Melony is walking now.
Melony sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Melony beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Melony in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Greek meaning and two Roman saints behind the parent name.
- Mel is a completely established everyday form.
- The sound is entirely standard, so the name is never mispronounced.
- The first five letters spell an English fruit.
- Melanie is the standard spelling by a very wide margin.
- The meaning is black or dark, which not every family expects.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Melony
Feminine · #6838 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Melonys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,200 people named Melony are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Melony?
- Melony is the most-used spelling in US records — 16 of the 25 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Meloni.
- How popular is the name Melony in 2025?
- Melony ranks #6838 among US girl names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Melony?
- About 1 in every 100,454 US girls born in 2025 was named Melony — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Melony with classmates?
- Melony will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Melony
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Malana#6838 · Jeannie#6838 · Maxie#6838 · Nicol#6838 · Chaney#6838 · Keana#6838 · Concetta#6838 · Pheobe#6838
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Melony? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Melony and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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