Merl
Masculine · “blackbird”
Merl is given to both — 2,574 boys and 278 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Merle is the French word for a blackbird. Not a name derived from a word for one — the word itself, taken whole into English as a name, and still the ordinary term in French for the bird singing in every hedge in Europe.
How old is the name Merl?
Merl first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Merl alive today was born around 1928, making them about 97 years old. About 600 people named Merl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Merl most popular?
Merl peaked in 1907, reaching #591 nationally. See the whole 1907 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From merula to Merl
The story of Merl
Bird names have supplied surprisingly few given names in English — Robin is one, and Merle is another, and after that the list runs out fast. Merle came in from French in the nineteenth century, was given to women and men in roughly equal numbers for a generation, and then drifted toward women, as names ending in a soft consonant tend to. Merl drops the final e, which removes what little French is left and shortens the name to one syllable and four letters. The American record has it for boys and girls alike from the eighteen-eighties.
Meaning
blackbird
The French merle comes from the Latin merula, the blackbird, and the word is still current. English also borrowed it as a poetic term for the bird, which is now archaic.
How the name formed
- merula
- merle
- Merl
Related forms: Merle
Pronouncing Merl
MURL
One syllable, rhyming with pearl. The dropped e changes nothing; Merle and Merl are said identically.
Nicknames for Merl
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
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 191982 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #591reached in 1907
- Change vs 1984
- 0.0%5 in 1986, 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.
Merl in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Merle in French — same name
Merls among us
people named Merl 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
Merl 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
- One syllable and four letters, with no possible mispronunciation.
- The bird behind it is real, common and can be pointed at.
- It works well in front of long surnames, where fuller names get crowded.
- Merle is the commoner spelling and will be written instead.
- The spelling is recorded for girls as well as boys in the United States.
- It reads clearly as a name of the first half of the twentieth century.
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Merl
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Merls are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Merl are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Merl in 2025?
- Merl is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Merl with classmates?
- Merl 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 Merl? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Merl and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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