Merle
Feminine · “blackbird”
Merle is given to both — 14,723 girls and 30,666 boys since 1880. See Merle as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Merle is a blackbird, and it was given to daughters as readily as to sons in early twentieth-century America. The French word comes straight from the Latin, and the bird's song is why it survived into naming at all.
How old is the name Merle?
Merle was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Merle alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 3,600 people named Merle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Merle most popular?
Merle peaked in 1903, reaching #293 nationally. Today it ranks #14942, 14,649 places below that high. See the whole 1903 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From merula to Merle
The story of Merle
Merle entered English as a surname — a nickname for someone with a fine voice or dark hair — and crossed into given-name use in nineteenth-century America, where it was given to both sexes from the start. Bird names were a small but real category in that period, alongside Robin and Wren. Feminine Merle rose through the 1910s and peaked around 1935, running alongside the masculine use throughout.
Meaning
blackbird
From the French merle, from the Latin merula, 'blackbird'. The bird is one of the great singers of European woodland and appears in poetry for centuries before it appears on anyone's certificate. English borrowed 'merle' as a word for the bird as well.
How the name formed
- merula
- merle
- Merle
Related forms: Merle · Merl · Merula
Pronouncing Merle
MURL
One syllable in English. Said identically for either sex; French gives it a lighter final consonant.
Nicknames for Merle
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1921442 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #293reached in 1903
- Change vs 2003
- 0.0%5 in 2025, 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.
Merle in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Merle in French — same name
- Merl in English — spelling variant
- Merula in Latin — related form
Merles among us
people named Merle are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 321,453 born in 2025 was named Merle
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Merle 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
Merle beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Merle in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete, vivid and attached to one of Europe's best-known songbirds.
- One syllable, unmistakable, and never misspelled by an English speaker.
- It has a documented French and Latin history rather than being an American assembly.
- It was given to both sexes and does not signal sex on paper.
- It is strongly period-coded to the first half of the twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Merle
Feminine · #14942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Merles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,600 people named Merle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Merle in 2025?
- Merle ranks #14942 among US girl names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Merle?
- About 1 in every 321,453 US girls born in 2025 was named Merle — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Merle with classmates?
- Merle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Merle
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hester#14942 · Lyda#14942 · Zula#14942 · Zona#14942 · Ula#14942 · Belva#14942 · Lucetta#14942 · Leala#14942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Merle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Merle and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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