How rare is the name Merry?

8,030 people in the United States have the first name Merry, about 1 in 37,613. It ranks #2,865 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

MERRY

#2,865

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,030
About
1 in 37,613
This common or more
81.1%
Who bears it

Of the 8,030 people named Merry, 80.6% reported their origin as White, 7.6% as Asian or Pacific Islander and 5.7% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Merry peaked in 1954, when 355 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18982025
Peak year
1954
Births that year
355
In 2025*
9 ▼97%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 10,369 babies have been given the name since 1898. 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.

Merry by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #923. The largest share of babies named Merry, 51.4%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1890s#3,9395
1900s#3,18730
1910s#2,590209
1920s#1,981495
1930s#1,556661
1940s#9232,246
1950s#9482,972
1960s#1,3021,833
1970s#2,394698
1980s#3,767436
1990s#6,146293
2000s#10,094200
2010s#10,401206
2020s#12,95185
Before 19010%
Greatest Generation 1901–276.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4517.5%
Baby boom 1946–6451.4%
Generation X 1965–8013.4%
Millennials 1981–965.9%
Generation Z 1997–123.1%
2013 and later2.3%

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 Merry is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Merry has been most common in Michigan (2.3×), Minnesota (2.1×), and Wisconsin (1.9×), and least common in Massachusetts (0.22×).

6,172 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 Merry

1 other first name also has 8,030 people.

#2,865 Myah · 8,030

Either side of Merry

#2,863 Loan · 8,034#2,864 Sade · 8,033#2,865 Myah · 8,030#2,867 Duke · 8,029

Spelled almost the same

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

#5,812 Mery · 2,861#6,324 Merri · 2,553

Also a last name

As a last name, Merry ranks #8,807 of 156,621, with 3,575 people. See Merry as a last name

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