Mearle
A feminine name derived from the Middle English name "Merle," meaning "blackbird."
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Mearle. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Mearle today is around 85 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mearle births was 1917 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mearle. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Mearle is about 85 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Mearles were born before 1951.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mearle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1917
14 babies that year
Average age
85
years old
1948 SSA rank
#3,553
Tracked since 1915
Gender
Gender distribution for Mearle
Mearle is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 108 total registrations, 82 (75.9%) were male and 26 (24.1%) were female.
Mearle as a male name
- Ranked #3,553 in 1948
- 6 male births in 1948
- Peak: 1919 (9 births)
Mearle as a female name
- Ranked #3,859 in 1923
- 8 female births in 1923
- Peak: 1917 (8 births)
Popularity
Mearle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mearle from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 47 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mearle by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mearle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mearle
The given name Mearle is of English origin and dates back to the late 19th century. It is thought to be a variant spelling of the name Merle, which is derived from the Old French word "merle" meaning "blackbird." This name was initially used as a nickname before becoming a standalone given name.
While there are no direct historical references to the name Mearle in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name Merle has been recorded in various historical documents throughout the centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merle can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was listed as a surname.
The earliest recorded example of the name Mearle dates back to the late 19th century. One notable individual with this name was Mearle Donald, an American actor and singer born in 1907 and known for his roles in various Broadway productions in the 1930s and 1940s.
Another person of note with the name Mearle is Mearle F. Gates, an American politician who served as the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Indiana from 1941 to 1945. He was born in 1889 and passed away in 1962.
Mearle L. Woodruff was an American educator and administrator who served as the president of the University of Utah from 1949 to 1964. He was born in 1892 and died in 1977.
Mearle J. Miller was an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Miller Brewing Company in 1855. He was born in 1824 and passed away in 1899.
Mearle Hubert, an American baseball player, was born in 1917 and played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns during the 1940s.
While the name Mearle is relatively uncommon, it has been carried by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, ranging from actors and politicians to educators and businessmen.
People
Mearle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mearle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mearle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mearle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mearle going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Mearle a common name?
We classify Mearle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 108 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mearle most popular?
The single biggest year for Mearle was 1917, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mearle is about 85 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mearle a male name?
Yes, 75.9% of people registered as Mearle in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.