How rare is the name Merlyn?

3,737 people in the United States have the first name Merlyn, about 1 in 80,822. It ranks #4,823 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 2 others.

first name

MERLYN

#4,823

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
3,737
About
1 in 80,822
This common or more
84.6%
Who bears it

Of the 3,737 people named Merlyn, 44% reported their origin as White, 24.3% as Hispanic or Latino and 17.7% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 63.3% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Merlyn peaked in 1930, when 159 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19082025
Peak year
1930
Births that year
159
In 2025*
13 ▼92%
Recorded as
mostly male

At least 5,045 babies have been given the name since 1908. 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.

Merlyn by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #1,021. The largest share of babies named Merlyn, 44%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1900s#4,9315
1910s#1,842373
1920s#1,2701,106
1930s#1,0211,392
1940s#1,548832
1950s#2,577440
1960s#4,441194
1970s#9,33081
1980s#11,41081
1990s#10,123145
2000s#10,855181
2010s#13,842134
2020s#13,37881
Greatest Generation 1901–2724.5%
Silent Generation 1928–4544%
Baby boom 1946–6416.2%
Generation X 1965–803.3%
Millennials 1981–963.2%
Generation Z 1997–125.5%
2013 and later3.4%

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 Merlyn is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Merlyn has been most common in South Dakota (28×), Iowa (22×), and Nebraska (12×), and least common in California (0.51×).

1,845 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.

Exactly as common as Merlyn

2 other first names also have 3,737 people.

#4,823 Jeremie · 3,737#4,823 Tawny · 3,737

Either side of Merlyn

#4,821 Justyn · 3,739#4,823 Jeremie · 3,737#4,823 Tawny · 3,737#4,826 Alea · 3,735

Spelled almost the same

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

#2,705 Merlin · 8,662#8,568 Merilyn · 1,689#27,350 Merelyn · 335#40,339 Merlynn · 185#43,336 Merlon · 163#45,015 Merlen · 152#52,605 Merlyne · 106

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