Melat
An Amharic feminine given name meaning "very beautiful and glorious".
Name Census estimates that about 239 living Americans carry the first name Melat. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melat today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melat births was 2006 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melat. 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 Melat with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
239
~ 1 in 1,434,119 Americans
Peak year
2006
24 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,622
Tracked since 1998
Census
Melat in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 590 people with the first name Melat, which placed it at #18,296 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
#18,296
National first-name rank
People counted
590
590 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melat
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melat is Black at 96.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Melat 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 Melat at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.8% · 571
- White2.0% · 12
- Two or more races0.7% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 3
Popularity
Melat: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melat from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 113 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melat 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 Melat during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melats live
Origin
Meaning and history of Melat
The name Melat is of Amharic origin, originating from the Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia and parts of Eritrea. The name can be traced back to ancient times, with early references found in the Ge'ez language, an ancient Semitic language that served as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Melat is derived from the Ge'ez root word "mal'at," which means "to come" or "to arrive." It is believed that the name was initially used to signify the arrival of a child or to represent the concept of a new beginning. The name's connection to this ancient language and its symbolic meaning of arrival or new beginnings underscores its historical and cultural significance within the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Melat can be found in the Kebra Nagast, a renowned 14th-century literary work that recounts the legendary origins of the Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia. This ancient text, written in Ge'ez, mentions several individuals with the name Melat, indicating its widespread use during that era.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Melat. One such figure is Melat Mengesha (c. 1850-1920), an Ethiopian noblewoman and military leader who played a significant role in the defense of Ethiopia during the First Italo-Ethiopian War in the late 19th century. Her bravery and leadership earned her a prominent place in Ethiopian history.
Another historical figure named Melat is Melat Bayou (1842-1918), an Eritrean traditional healer and midwife who was renowned for her expertise in traditional medicine and her dedication to serving her community. She is remembered as a respected figure in Eritrean cultural heritage.
In the realm of literature, Melat Asfaha (1928-1996) was an Eritrean poet and writer who made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Eritrean culture and identity through her works. Her poems and writings celebrated the richness of Eritrean traditions and helped to shape the country's literary landscape.
Melat Taddesse (1944-2010) was an Ethiopian actress and playwright who left a lasting impact on the Ethiopian theater scene. She was celebrated for her performances in various theatrical productions and her efforts to promote the arts in Ethiopia.
Lastly, Melat Getahun (born 1983) is a contemporary Ethiopian artist and sculptor who has gained international recognition for her innovative and thought-provoking works. Her sculptures often explore themes of identity, cultural heritage, and societal issues, reflecting the enduring influence of the name Melat in modern times.
People
Melat + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melat 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
Melat: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melat?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 239 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melat 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 1,434,119 US residents.
Is Melat a common name?
We classify Melat as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 242 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melat most popular?
The single biggest year for Melat was 2006, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melat is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melat in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 590 people with the name Melat, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,296 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 Melat 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 Melat?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melat leans strongly female. 582 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 9 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Melat?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melat is Black at 96.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Melat most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Melat in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.8% (571 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 Melat in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melat a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melat 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 Melat still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melat 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 Melat 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 common is the name Melat?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Melat at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.