Merlene
Feminine · “blackbird”
Merlene puts an American ending on a French bird name and produces something that is neither. The base is merle, the blackbird; the ending is the -ene that was attaching itself to everything in the same decades; and no French speaker would recognize the result.
How old is the name Merlene?
Merlene first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Merlene alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 1,200 people named Merlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Merlene most popular?
Merlene peaked in 1940, reaching #721 nationally. See the whole 1940 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From merle to Merlene
The story of Merlene
The name sits between two families and takes something from each. Merle is French and had been in American use since the nineteenth century; Marlene is German, arrived in the twentieth, and was enormously visible for a decade. Merlene is what a family produces when both are in earshot — the base of one and the shape of the other. That is not a corruption of either; it is a third name, made in America, which is what happens where two naming traditions overlap and neither is quite what a family wants.
Meaningscholars disagree
blackbird
If the name is built on Merle, it names the bird. If it is Marlene respelt, it descends from two German names contracted, and the two readings are unrelated.
How the name formed
- merle
- Merle
- Merlene
Pronouncing Merlene
mur-LEEN
Two syllables with the weight at the back. Front-weighted MUR-leen is also heard.
Nicknames for Merlene
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
- 1913
- Most girls named
- 194093 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #721reached in 1940
- Change vs 1982
- −16.7%5 in 1984, from 6
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.
Merlenes among us
people named Merlene 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
Merlene 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
- Both parts are familiar, so the name is read correctly at sight.
- The ee ending removes any question about the vowel.
- It carries two short forms, each a standing name somewhere.
- Marlene, Merline and Merlene are near neighbors and will be confused.
- Its parentage is genuinely double, so the meaning depends on the family.
- It reads clearly as a name of the first half of the twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Merlene
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Merlenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Merlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Merlene in 2025?
- Merlene is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Merlene with classmates?
- Merlene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Merlene? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Merlene and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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