How rare is the name Melvin?

111,421 people in the United States have the first name Melvin, about 1 in 2,711. It ranks #505 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MELVIN

#505

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
111,421
About
1 in 2,711
This common or more
58.6%
Who bears it

Of the 111,421 people named Melvin, 44.4% reported their origin as White, 35% as Black and 14.2% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.6%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Melvin peaked in 1928, when 4,311 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1928
Births that year
4,311
In 2025*
243 ▼94%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 247,075 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.

Melvin by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #110. The largest share of babies named Melvin, 28.3%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1880s#330960
1890s#3581,335
1900s#2622,873
1910s#14321,943
1920s#11541,011
1930s#11038,029
1940s#14939,544
1950s#21536,455
1960s#29823,335
1970s#38213,304
1980s#5149,540
1990s#7386,996
2000s#8996,296
2010s#1,4273,705
2020s#1,7191,749
Before 19011%
Greatest Generation 1901–2723.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4528.3%
Baby boom 1946–6426.7%
Generation X 1965–809.8%
Millennials 1981–965.5%
Generation Z 1997–123.7%
2013 and later1.7%

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 Melvin is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Melvin has been most common in District of Columbia (2.3×), Hawaii (2.2×), and South Dakota (2.2×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.15×).

237,479 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 Melvin

#503 Jenny · 111,784#504 Marissa · 111,567#506 Bailey · 111,403#507 Alison · 111,220

Spelled almost the same

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

#6,037 Melvina · 2,717#6,363 Melvyn · 2,534#23,505 Melbin · 416#38,175 Melven · 202#41,955 Melvine · 173#46,524 Melvon · 143

Also a last name

As a last name, Melvin ranks #1,890 of 156,621, with 18,641 people. See Melvin as a last name

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