How common is the name Melanie?

225,738 people in the United States have the first name Melanie, about 1 in 1,338. It ranks #248 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MELANIE

#248

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
225,738
About
1 in 1,338
This common or more
45.5%
Who bears it

Of the 225,738 people named Melanie, 63.3% reported their origin as White, 24% as Hispanic or Latino and 5.9% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Melanie peaked in 1972, when 6,320 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18862025
Peak year
1972
Births that year
6,320
In 2025*
2,074 ▼67%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 263,254 babies have been given the name since 1886. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Melanie by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #115. The largest share of babies named Melanie, 28.6%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1880s#2,24721
1890s#2,00063
1900s#2,18079
1910s#3,268145
1920s#3,687183
1930s#2,761242
1940s#6005,029
1950s#33019,862
1960s#21236,821
1970s#11553,498
1980s#16836,105
1990s#23429,444
2000s#21535,322
2010s#21133,103
2020s#30713,337
Before 19010%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.1%
Silent Generation 1928–450.8%
Baby boom 1946–6416.3%
Generation X 1965–8028.6%
Millennials 1981–9620.1%
Generation Z 1997–1220.2%
2013 and later13.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Melanie is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Melanie has been most common in Nevada (1.9×), Utah (1.7×), and Hawaii (1.4×), and least common in West Virginia (0.66×).

260,766 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Melanie

#246 Mike · 228,046#247 Valerie · 226,036#249 Alice · 225,222#250 Philip · 223,037

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Melanie, most common first.

#2,133 Melany · 12,514#3,872 Melani · 5,073#3,997 Melonie · 4,864#4,287 Melania · 4,437#9,260 Meilani · 1,515#9,673 Melaine · 1,424#10,227 Melannie · 1,314#12,081 Melaney · 1,042

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