first name
MERRITT
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 4,797 people named Merritt, 88.7% reported their origin as White, 4% as Black and 3.4% as two or more races. 55.8% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Merritt peaked in 2025, when 518 babies got the name.
At least 9,382 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.
Merritt by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #1,142. The largest share of babies named Merritt, 32.3%, were born in 2013 or later.
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 Merritt is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Merritt has been most common in North Carolina (3.3×), Nebraska (2.4×), and Georgia (2.3×), and least common in Missouri (0.42×).
3,170 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 Merritt
Spelled almost the same
5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Merritt, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Merritt ranks #772 of 156,621, with 43,857 people. See Merritt as a last name
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