Melanny
A feminine name of French origin meaning "black, dark-haired".
Name Census estimates that about 943 living Americans carry the first name Melanny. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melanny today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melanny births was 2013 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melanny. 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.
People living today
943
~ 1 in 363,472 Americans
Peak year
2013
69 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,887
Tracked since 1997
Census
Melanny in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 694 people with the first name Melanny, which placed it at #16,301 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
#16,301
National first-name rank
People counted
694
694 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
89.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melanny
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melanny is Hispanic at 89.2%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.5%). 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 Melanny 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 Melanny at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.2% · 619
- White6.5% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
- Two or more races0.3% · 2
Popularity
Melanny: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melanny 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 489 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melanny 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 Melanny during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melannys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Melanny, while Virginia, Florida, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 56 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Melanny
The name Melanny has its origins in the Greek language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "melaina," which means "black" or "dark." This connection to the color black likely stems from its association with dark hair or complexion.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Melanny can be found in ancient Greek texts from around the 5th century BCE. In these texts, the name was often used to describe characters with dark features or personalities. However, it was not a commonly used personal name during this time period.
The name Melanny did not gain significant popularity until the late Middle Ages, when it began to appear more frequently in various regions of Europe, particularly in areas with Greek cultural influences, such as Italy and parts of the Mediterranean region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Melanny was Melanny of Salerno, an Italian nun and writer who lived in the 11th century. She is known for her work on medical texts and her contributions to the development of monastic medicine during the Middle Ages.
Another notable figure with the name Melanny was Melanny of Arles, a French noblewoman and landowner who lived in the 12th century. She was known for her involvement in various political and religious disputes of the time and her influence in the region of Provence.
In the 16th century, Melanny de la Cruz was a Spanish mystic and religious writer who gained recognition for her spiritual visions and writings on the life of Christ. Her works were widely read and discussed within religious circles of the time.
During the 17th century, Melanny de Bauffremont was a French courtier and lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie de' Medici. She was known for her involvement in the political intrigues and scandals of the French court during the reign of King Louis XIII.
In more recent history, Melanny Safka, born in 1950, is an American singer-songwriter best known for her hit song "Brand New Key" in the 1970s. She has had a successful career in music and has been recognized for her unique vocal style and songwriting abilities.
People
Melanny + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melanny 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
Melanny: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melanny?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 943 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melanny 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 363,472 US residents.
Is Melanny a common name?
We classify Melanny as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 953 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melanny most popular?
The single biggest year for Melanny was 2013, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melanny is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melanny in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 694 people with the name Melanny, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,301 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 Melanny 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 Melanny?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melanny appears almost entirely female. Of the 688 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Melanny?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melanny is Hispanic at 89.2%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.5%). 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 Melanny most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Melanny in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (619 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 Melanny in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melanny a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melanny 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 Melanny still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melanny 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 Melanny 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 the name Melanny?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.