How rare is the name Merlin?

8,662 people in the United States have the first name Merlin, about 1 in 34,869. It ranks #2,705 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MERLIN

#2,705

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,662
About
1 in 34,869
This common or more
80.6%
Who bears it

Of the 8,662 people named Merlin, 61.5% reported their origin as White, 22.5% as Hispanic or Latino and 7.6% as Black. 77.8% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Merlin peaked in 1927, when 405 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18852025
Peak year
1927
Births that year
405
In 2025*
73 ▼82%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 15,968 babies have been given the name since 1885. 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.

Merlin by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1920s, when it ranked #666. The largest share of babies named Merlin, 32%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1880s#2,50414
1890s#2,31542
1900s#1,519151
1910s#8421,541
1920s#6663,435
1930s#6723,043
1940s#9402,128
1950s#1,3201,609
1960s#1,899908
1970s#2,808544
1980s#3,739439
1990s#4,197510
2000s#4,568634
2010s#5,473525
2020s#4,325445
Before 19010.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2728%
Silent Generation 1928–4532%
Baby boom 1946–6417.8%
Generation X 1965–806.2%
Millennials 1981–964.7%
Generation Z 1997–125.7%
2013 and later5.2%

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 Merlin is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Merlin has been most common in Iowa (9.6×), Nebraska (7.2×), and Wisconsin (7.1×), and least common in New York (0.19×).

10,399 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 Merlin

#2,703 Rosita · 8,679#2,704 Burton · 8,663#2,706 Elana · 8,659#2,707 Yessica · 8,654

Spelled almost the same

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

#4,823 Merlyn · 3,737#11,985 Merline · 1,053#19,629 Merlina · 536#43,336 Merlon · 163#45,015 Merelin · 152#45,015 Merlen · 152

Also a last name

As a last name, Merlin ranks #20,135 of 156,621, with 1,337 people. See Merlin as a last name

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