How rare is the name Mercy?

12,795 people in the United States have the first name Mercy, about 1 in 23,605. It ranks #2,101 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MERCY

#2,101

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
12,795
About
1 in 23,605
This common or more
78.5%
Who bears it

Of the 12,795 people named Mercy, 31.7% reported their origin as Black, 28.2% as Hispanic or Latino and 19.9% as White. 98.4% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Mercy peaked in 2019, when 461 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18812025
Peak year
2019
Births that year
461
In 2025*
338 ▼27%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 10,864 babies have been given the name since 1881. 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.

Mercy by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #1,485. The largest share of babies named Mercy, 43%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#1,68253
1890s#2,74125
1900s#2,46561
1910s#2,725192
1920s#2,381359
1930s#2,181368
1940s#2,321397
1950s#2,420494
1960s#3,074371
1970s#2,861531
1980s#3,846421
1990s#3,484677
2000s#2,4621,538
2010s#1,5873,223
2020s#1,4852,154
Before 19010.8%
Greatest Generation 1901–274.7%
Silent Generation 1928–456.5%
Baby boom 1946–647.8%
Generation X 1965–806.9%
Millennials 1981–967.2%
Generation Z 1997–1223.1%
2013 and later43%

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 Mercy is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Mercy has been most common in Arizona (4.8×), California (2.2×), and Texas (1.9×), and least common in New Jersey (0.31×).

7,323 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 Mercy

#2,099 Deidre · 12,807#2,100 Rhiannon · 12,801#2,102 Fredy · 12,789#2,103 Mustafa · 12,765

Spelled almost the same

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

#12,697 Merci · 974#43,791 Merce · 160

Also a last name

As a last name, Mercy ranks #36,002 of 156,621, with 670 people. See Mercy as a last name

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