Melburn
From a Teutonic origin, meaning "bright town" or "town of mills".
Name Census estimates that about 108 living Americans carry the first name Melburn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Melburn today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melburn births was 1920 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melburn. 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 Melburn is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Melburns were born before 1958.
People living today
108
~ 1 in 3,173,651 Americans
Peak year
1920
27 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1974 SSA rank
#5,030
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Melburn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melburn from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 155 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
Melburn 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 Melburn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melburns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Melburn
The name Melburn has its origins in the ancient Germanic language, dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic root words "meldu" and "burn," which together mean "honey stream" or "sweet flowing water." This name was likely given to individuals born near a river or stream known for its clarity and sweetness.
In the early medieval period, the name Melburn was particularly prevalent in the regions of modern-day Germany, the Netherlands, and parts of Scandinavia. It was often spelled as "Meldborn" or "Meldburn" in Old Norse and Old English records.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Melburn can be found in the "Codex Diplomatus Saxoniae Regiae," a collection of historical documents from the Holy Roman Empire, dating back to the 9th century. In this text, a nobleman named Melburn von Braunschweig is mentioned as a landowner in the region of Lower Saxony.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the name Melburn was borne by several notable individuals. Melburn the Scribe, a renowned calligrapher and illuminator of manuscripts, lived in the 12th century and was responsible for creating some of the most exquisite works of art during the Romanesque period.
In the 16th century, Melburn von Hagen was a prominent German philosopher and theologian who authored several influential treatises on ethics and morality. His writings were widely read and debated in academic circles across Europe.
During the 18th century, Melburn Rothschild was a successful banker and financier from the influential Rothschild family. He played a significant role in establishing the family's financial empire and was instrumental in financing several important European ventures.
In the world of literature, Melburn Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer who lived from 1804 to 1864. He is best known for his works such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "The House of the Seven Gables," which explored themes of sin, guilt, and moral ambiguity in Puritan New England.
Lastly, Melburn Kittredge was a renowned American scholar and literary critic who lived from 1853 to 1945. He made significant contributions to the study of Shakespearean literature and was a pioneer in the field of textual criticism.
People
Melburn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melburn 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
Melburn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melburn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 108 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melburn 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 3,173,651 US residents.
Is Melburn a common name?
We classify Melburn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 489 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melburn most popular?
The single biggest year for Melburn was 1920, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melburn is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Melburn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melburn 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.