Meher
Sun or sunlight, an Indian name of Persian origin.
Name Census estimates that about 809 living Americans carry the first name Meher. It is a predominantly female name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Meher today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meher births was 2021 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meher. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Meher with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
809
~ 1 in 423,677 Americans
Peak year
2021
64 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2020 SSA rank
#3,851
Tracked since 1993
Census
Meher in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 989 people with the first name Meher, which placed it at #12,547 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,547
National first-name rank
People counted
989
989 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
88.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meher
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meher is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.7%. The next largest groups are White (7.8%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Meher described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Meher at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander88.7% · 877
- White7.8% · 77
- Two or more races2.1% · 21
- Black or African American0.7% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Meher
Meher leans heavily female at 98.5% of total registrations, but 12 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Meher as a male name
- Ranked #10,226 in 2020
- 7 male births in 2020
- Peak: 2020 (7 births)
Meher as a female name
- Ranked #3,851 in 2024
- 39 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (64 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meher leans strongly female. 845 people counted with this name were female (85.2%), compared with 147 male bearers (14.8%).
Popularity
Meher: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meher from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 336 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Meher remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Meher 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 Meher during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mehers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Meher, while Virginia, Massachusetts, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Meher
The name Meher is derived from the Persian language and has its origins in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran). It is believed to have emerged during the Achaemenid Empire, which ruled from around 550 BC to 330 BC. The name is thought to be derived from the Persian word "Mehr," meaning "sun," "light," or "love."
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Meher can be found in the ancient Zoroastrian religious text, the Avesta. In the Avesta, Mehr (or Mithra) is a prominent deity associated with the sun, truth, and justice. This suggests that the name has deep roots in Persian mythology and culture.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Meher. One of the earliest was Meher Banu Begum (1593-1615), a Mughal princess and the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Another historical figure was Meher Ali Khan (1757-1834), a prominent military leader and statesman in the Maratha Empire.
In the 19th century, Meher Ali Qajar (1842-1907) was a Persian prince and a member of the Qajar dynasty. He served as the governor of several provinces in Persia and was known for his patronage of the arts and literature.
More recently, Meher Baba (1894-1969) was a renowned Indian spiritual master and philosopher who advocated for a life of love, peace, and understanding. Despite his fame, he observed a vow of silence for the last 44 years of his life, communicating primarily through an alphabet board and hand gestures.
Another notable figure was Meher Singh Gill (1899-1989), an Indian politician and freedom fighter who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. He served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and held various ministerial positions in the government.
Throughout its history, the name Meher has carried connotations of light, love, and spiritual enlightenment, reflecting its Persian origins and associations with ancient Zoroastrian mythology. While its popularity has ebbed and flowed over time, it remains a culturally significant name with deep roots in the history and traditions of the Persian world.
People
Meher + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meher 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
Meher: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meher?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 809 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meher 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 423,677 US residents.
Is Meher a common name?
We classify Meher as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 817 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meher most popular?
The single biggest year for Meher was 2021, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meher is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Meher in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 989 people with the name Meher, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,547 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Meher in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Meher?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meher leans strongly female. 845 people counted with this name were female (85.2%), compared with 147 male bearers (14.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Meher?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meher is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.7%. The next largest groups are White (7.8%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Meher most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Meher in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.7% (877 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Meher in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meher a female name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Meher in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Meher still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meher in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Meher can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have Meher as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Meher on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.