How rare is the name Meryl?

4,475 people in the United States have the first name Meryl, about 1 in 67,493. It ranks #4,245 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

MERYL

#4,245

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,475
About
1 in 67,493
This common or more
83.8%
Who bears it

Of the 4,475 people named Meryl, 86.6% reported their origin as White, 4.9% as Asian or Pacific Islander and 4.6% as Black. 94.5% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Meryl peaked in 1956, when 156 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18922025
Peak year
1956
Births that year
156
In 2025*
12 ▼92%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 5,599 babies have been given the name since 1892. 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.

Meryl by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1950s, when it ranked #1,446. The largest share of babies named Meryl, 38.8%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1890s#2,57031
1900s#2,69249
1910s#2,317250
1920s#2,092446
1930s#2,104387
1940s#1,684710
1950s#1,4461,327
1960s#2,284626
1970s#5,370199
1980s#2,838663
1990s#5,606335
2000s#9,990203
2010s#8,755263
2020s#10,899110
Before 19010.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–2711.7%
Silent Generation 1928–4513.3%
Baby boom 1946–6438.8%
Generation X 1965–808.6%
Millennials 1981–9615.3%
Generation Z 1997–126.3%
2013 and later5.4%

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 Meryl is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Meryl has been most common in New York (8.8×), New Jersey (3.2×), and Massachusetts (2.1×), and least common in California (0.42×).

2,446 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 Meryl

1 other first name also has 4,475 people.

#4,245 Georgianna · 4,475

Either side of Meryl

#4,244 Sofie · 4,477#4,245 Georgianna · 4,475#4,247 Brogan · 4,474#4,247 Cinda · 4,474

Spelled almost the same

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

#12,997 Merl · 940#22,040 Meral · 455#26,023 Merryl · 361#32,402 Meryle · 260#34,154 Merel · 240#34,840 Meril · 233

Compare