Merle Name Popularity

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How popular is Merle?

In 2018 the rare name Merle, ranked the 4,540th Most Popular Boys Name in the United States.

This once, top 1000 name, Merle is currently less popular.

It reached its highest popularity RANKING of #170 in 1918.

But, the greatest number of babies were given the name in 1922 with 835 occurrences.

The least amount of newborns dubbed Merle in any given year was 9 in 2012.

Merle, decisively moved upwards in popularity around the years 1886-1889, 1899-1903, 1905-1918, and 2012-2015, whereas clearly downward trends happened around 1963-1967, 1971-1974, 1983-1986, and 1999-2002.

Sometimes the name Merle has been more popular as a girls name and sometimes it has been more popular as a boys.

Merle's popularity has remained mostly unchanged for some time. In recent years however, the number of babies given the name Merle has risen.

What does the future hold for the popularity of Merle?

Merle's popularity is at an extremely low point when measured against its most notable year.

The name Merle is very unique but has recently started to rise upward in popularity.

Relative to what it once was, Merle has fallen out of favor as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

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for Percentages.

		Merle (Girl)		Merle (Boy)
Year	%	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank
2018		< 5	--	22	4,540
2017		< 5	--	20	4,855
2016		< 5	--	14	6,222
2015		< 5	--	20	4,819
2014		< 5	--	15	5,890
2013		< 5	--	16	5,553
2012		< 5	--	9	8,629
2011		< 5	--	18	5,118
2010		< 5	--	22	4,462
2009		< 5	--	22	4,530
2008		< 5	--	19	5,002
2007		< 5	--	16	5,601
2006		< 5	--	25	3,956
2005		< 5	--	18	4,758
2004		5	17,888	20	4,365
2003		5	17,462	22	3,921
2002		< 5	--	13	5,615
2001		< 5	--	29	3,116
2000		< 5	--	25	3,383
1999		< 5	--	22	3,547
1998		< 5	--	20	3,663
1997		< 5	--	27	2,873
1996		< 5	--	28	2,722
1995		6	12,791	35	2,277
1994		< 5	--	26	2,820
1993		6	12,872	34	2,274
1992		6	12,792	33	2,284
1991		5	14,582	32	2,275
1990		< 5	--	33	2,195
1989		13	6,406	28	2,394
1988		< 5	--	48	1,542
1987		6	10,746	43	1,626
1986		6	10,397	35	1,777
1985		< 5	--	49	1,405
1984		6	9,901	51	1,309
1983		< 5	--	65	1,115
1982		8	7,938	57	1,238
1981		13	5,473	67	1,120
1980		5	11,497	59	1,195
1979		7	8,637	80	998
1978		11	5,831	60	1,144
1977		< 5	--	80	960
1976		5	10,279	65	1,033
1975		8	6,898	73	962
1974		9	6,062	78	923
1973		13	4,505	93	827
1972		13	4,448	112	753
1971		10	5,368	157	657
1970		18	3,528	131	720
1969		17	3,412	111	746
1968		21	2,837	136	649
1967		19	2,934	91	765
1966		24	2,500	121	676
1965		24	2,516	159	609
1964		38	1,936	166	609
1963		47	1,679	187	582
1962		53	1,551	180	583
1961		58	1,478	176	595
1960		62	1,399	176	590
1959		75	1,241	229	518
1958		94	1,085	231	506
1957		89	1,112	254	490
1956		107	990	291	442
1955		114	924	290	431
1954		137	804	305	412
1953		123	836	325	388
1952		134	774	340	368
1951		136	755	368	360
1950		141	721	395	339
1949		153	678	354	357
1948		179	618	432	322
1947		203	602	392	344
1946		206	549	406	319
1945		206	511	373	307
1944		239	466	391	305
1943		232	486	448	290
1942		274	441	442	288
1941		225	464	482	254
1940		237	443	467	254
1939		275	406	529	225
1938		264	415	525	228
1937		302	370	518	229
1936		341	338	568	209
1935		270	390	521	226
1934		212	449	599	207
1933		183	476	573	204
1932		200	460	593	211
1931		213	443	661	198
1930		237	436	712	195
1929		224	440	731	188
1928		293	390	763	186
1927		311	386	809	178
1926		340	365	787	180
1925		404	333	835	175
1924		383	347	783	184
1923		409	321	775	180
1922		394	330	835	172
1921		442	311	833	173
1920		403	324	819	171
1919		370	331	721	182
1918		375	332	795	170
1917		360	328	701	178
1916		373	314	604	191
1915		353	315	595	186
1914		247	336	415	201
1913		232	313	331	202
1912		221	307	268	207
1911		151	322	115	236
1910		138	334	100	235
1909		120	332	76	256
1908		120	323	76	244
1907		112	330	82	226
1906		84	372	72	230
1905		110	322	59	256
1904		92	341	53	263
1903		112	295	69	216
1902		112	299	58	245
1901		91	316	52	239
1900		113	315	54	283
1899		88	320	42	264
1898		77	357	49	254
1897		70	351	34	318
1896		86	314	44	277
1895		91	303	46	265
1894		70	333	38	286
1893		61	346	27	344
1892		60	341	38	302
1891		46	371	34	281
1890		68	307	26	346
1889		42	376	35	287
1888		25	509	15	518
1887		12	681	24	338
1886		14	627	22	376
1885		16	551	26	337
1884		16	534	19	424
1883		15	508	23	349
1882		11	589	13	530
1881		6	795	13	498
1880		6	810	17	437

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.