Merlin
Feminine · “Welsh”
Merlin is given to both — 919 girls and 15,049 boys since 1880. See Merlin as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Merlin's name was changed to avoid an obscenity. The Welsh original is Myrddin, which would have given Latin Merdinus — and Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing for a Norman French audience in the 1130s, chose Merlinus instead, because merde was as rude then as it is now.
How old is the name Merlin?
Merlin first appears in US birth records in 1901 — 124 years ago. The typical Merlin alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 700 people named Merlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Merlin most popular?
Merlin peaked in 1901, reaching #1466 nationally. Today it ranks #7491, 6,025 places below that high. See the whole 1901 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Myrddin to Merlin
The story of Merlin
Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain, written around 1136, is where Merlin enters European literature, assembled from earlier Welsh material about a mad prophet of the northern forests. Geoffrey wrote in Latin for an Anglo-Norman readership who spoke French, and the change of d to l is the sort of decision an author makes silently. It stuck: every later Merlin, in French romance, in Malory, and in modern fiction, carries a name adjusted for politeness in the twelfth century. As an American given name Merlin was used for both sexes around the turn of the twentieth century, and the female figures peak in 1901.
Meaningscholars disagree
Welsh, from the place name Caerfyrddin — "sea fort"
Myrddin is generally understood to be back-formed from Caerfyrddin, the Welsh name of Carmarthen, itself from a Brittonic name meaning sea fort. On that reading the wizard's name began as a place and was mistaken for a person's. Geoffrey of Monmouth Latinized it as Merlinus rather than Merdinus, a substitution he does not explain but which is universally attributed to the French word. The bird called a merlin is a separate word, from Old French esmerillon.
How the name formed
- Myrddin
- Merlinus
- Merlin
Related forms: Myrddin · Merlin
Pronouncing Merlin
MUR-lin
Two syllables, stress on the first. Welsh Myrddin is MUR-thin, with the dd said as the th of this, which is a single letter in the Welsh alphabet.
Nicknames for Merlin
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
- 1901
- Most girls named
- 200330 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1466reached in 1901
- Change vs 2023
- +7.7%14 in 2025, from 13
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.
Merlin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Myrddin in Welsh — related form
- Merlin in French — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Merlins among us
people named Merlin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 114,805 born in 2025 was named Merlin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Merlin
- #7491
- Merlin on the 2025 chart
- #939
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Merlin went to 14 girls in 2025, but Merlyn is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 21, which makes it the 939th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,552 places above the chart.
- Merlin14
- Merlyn7
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 114,805 for Merlin 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
Fashion outlook
Merlin 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
Merlin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Merlin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries one of the most widely known figures in European literature.
- It is short, two syllables and never mispronounced in English.
- Merle works as a short form for either sex.
- In current America it reads as a male name.
- The name is strongly tied to one fictional character.
- The Welsh original and the Latin form differ considerably.
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Merlin
Feminine · #7491 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Merlins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Merlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Merlin?
- Merlin is the most-used spelling in US records — 14 of the 21 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Merlyn.
- How popular is the name Merlin in 2025?
- Merlin ranks #7491 among US girl names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Merlin?
- About 1 in every 114,805 US girls born in 2025 was named Merlin — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Merlin with classmates?
- Merlin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Merlin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Christie#7491 · Carmelita#7491 · Jetta#7491 · Hildegard#7491 · Rickie#7491 · Billy#7491 · Angelyn#7491 · Jewell#7491
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Merlin? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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