How rare is the name Melinda?

118,796 people in the United States have the first name Melinda, about 1 in 2,542. It ranks #475 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MELINDA

#475

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
118,796
About
1 in 2,542
This common or more
57.5%
Who bears it

Of the 118,796 people named Melinda, 77.3% reported their origin as White, 9.7% as Hispanic or Latino and 6.1% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Melinda peaked in 1970, when 4,236 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1970
Births that year
4,236
In 2025*
97 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 136,159 babies have been given the name since 1880. 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.

Melinda by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #168. The largest share of babies named Melinda, 42.9%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1880s#1,100129
1890s#1,263157
1900s#1,605137
1910s#2,657199
1920s#3,457202
1930s#1,695567
1940s#5725,423
1950s#30721,531
1960s#21536,379
1970s#16836,577
1980s#26822,301
1990s#6847,931
2000s#1,7452,495
2010s#2,5951,571
2020s#3,715560
Before 19010.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.4%
Silent Generation 1928–452.1%
Baby boom 1946–6431.1%
Generation X 1965–8042.9%
Millennials 1981–9618.9%
Generation Z 1997–123.2%
2013 and later1.1%

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 Melinda is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Melinda has been most common in Alaska (1.6×), Indiana (1.6×), and West Virginia (1.4×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.46×).

132,220 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 Melinda

#473 Nora · 119,144#474 Brent · 119,140#476 Gabrielle · 118,795#477 Hayden · 118,666

Spelled almost the same

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

#6,542 Melynda · 2,443#31,941 Melondy · 266#48,513 Melenda · 131#52,605 Mellinda · 106

Compare