How rare is the name Melody?

86,671 people in the United States have the first name Melody, about 1 in 3,485. It ranks #611 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MELODY

#611

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
86,671
About
1 in 3,485
This common or more
62.1%
Who bears it

Of the 86,671 people named Melody, 62.4% reported their origin as White, 16.4% as Hispanic or Latino and 9.7% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Melody peaked in 2025, when 3,095 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19142025
Peak year
2025
Births that year
3,095
In 2025*
3,095
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 115,084 babies have been given the name since 1914. 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.

Melody by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #253. The largest share of babies named Melody, 26.9%, were born in 2013 or later.

1910s#10,6457
1920s#8,05442
1930s#3,450169
1940s#7133,757
1950s#38715,541
1960s#35318,517
1970s#40612,345
1980s#48210,433
1990s#7097,527
2000s#59510,848
2010s#36819,885
2020s#25316,013
Greatest Generation 1901–270%
Silent Generation 1928–451%
Baby boom 1946–6425.5%
Generation X 1965–8018.3%
Millennials 1981–9612.7%
Generation Z 1997–1215.5%
2013 and later26.9%

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 Melody is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Melody has been most common in Nevada (1.9×), California (1.6×), and Alaska (1.6×), and least common in Vermont (0.42×).

112,684 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 Melody

#609 Tanner · 86,959#610 Kate · 86,820#612 Lance · 86,540#613 Marsha · 86,245

Spelled almost the same

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

#9,279 Melodi · 1,510#16,356 Melodye · 691#23,638 Mellody · 413#39,388 Melady · 192#50,139 Melodey · 121#53,514 Meledy · 98

Also a last name

As a last name, Melody ranks #29,648 of 156,621, with 848 people. See Melody as a last name

Compare