Myrtle
Feminine · “the myrtle shrub”
Myrtle is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 136,486 girls against 498 boys since 1880.
Myrtle is a plant name, from the evergreen shrub with white flowers that grows all round the Mediterranean. The Greeks and Romans held it sacred and used it at weddings, which is a good deal of meaning for a small dark leaf.
How old is the name Myrtle?
Myrtle was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Myrtle alive today was born around 1916, making them about 109 years old. About 13,000 people named Myrtle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Myrtle most popular?
Myrtle peaked in 1894, reaching #27 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 10,890 places below that high. See the whole 1894 chart.
Where it comes from
From myrtos to Myrtle
The story of Myrtle
This name belongs to a specific moment in English-speaking taste: the nineteenth-century fashion for naming daughters after flowers and plants, which also produced Violet, Ivy, Rose, Hazel and Daisy in quantity. Myrtle arrived with them, carrying an older layer of meaning that the others mostly lacked, since the plant already stood for marriage and for Venus across the classical world. It spread through Britain and America together, as that fashion did.
Meaning
the myrtle shrub
Directly the name of the plant, which reaches English through Latin myrtus from Greek myrtos. The plant was associated with Aphrodite in Greek practice and with Venus in Roman, and myrtle wreaths were worn by brides long before the name was given to children.
How the name formed
- myrtos
- myrtus
- Myrtle
Related forms: Mirta · Mirta
Pronouncing Myrtle
MUR-tul
Two syllables, stress on the first. The ending is the same unstressed -tle as in turtle.
Nicknames for Myrtle
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
- 19184,076 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #27reached in 1894
- Change vs 2019
- −33.3%8 in 2025, from 12
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.
Myrtle in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mirta in Spanish — related form
- Mirta in Italian — related form
Myrtles among us
people named Myrtle are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Myrtle
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
Myrtle 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
Myrtle beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Myrtle in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real plant with a documented classical role, so the meaning is concrete rather than decorative.
- It belongs to the botanical-name family alongside Ivy, Hazel and Violet, all of which have returned to fashion.
- One spelling and one pronunciation, both obvious from the written form.
- Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter books is a fixed association for a great many readers, and she is a ghost who cries in a bathroom.
- The clippings, Myrt and Mert, are blunt in a way the full name is not, and a child will not always get to choose which is used.
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What they receive
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Myrtle
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Myrtles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 13,000 people named Myrtle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Myrtle in 2025?
- Myrtle ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Myrtle?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Myrtle — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Myrtle with classmates?
- Myrtle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Myrtle
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Adell#10917 · Edythe#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Myrtle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Myrtle and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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