Meleena
Beautiful, lovely; a feminine name of Greek origin.
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Meleena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Meleena today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meleena births was 2001 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meleena. 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
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
2001
14 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2020 SSA rank
#10,823
Tracked since 1995
Census
Meleena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 210 people with the first name Meleena, which placed it at #37,260 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
#37,260
National first-name rank
People counted
210
210 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
40.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meleena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meleena is Hispanic at 40.5%. The next largest groups are White (31.9%) and Black (10.0%). 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 Meleena 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 Meleena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino40.5% · 85
- White31.9% · 67
- Black or African American10.0% · 21
- Two or more races9.5% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.8% · 8
Popularity
Meleena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meleena 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 102 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
Meleena 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 Meleena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meleenas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Meleena
The name Meleena has its origins in the Ancient Greek language, likely emerging during the Hellenistic period around the 3rd century BC. It is believed to be derived from the Greek word "melaina," which means "black" or "dark." This suggests that the name may have initially been used to describe someone with dark hair or a dark complexion.
In ancient Greek mythology, there are references to the name Melaina being associated with various minor deities or nymphs. One such figure was a companion of the goddess Artemis, known for her hunting prowess and connection to nature. However, historical records containing the exact spelling of "Meleena" are scarce.
The earliest known individual recorded with the name Meleena was a Greek philosopher and poet who lived in the 5th century BC on the island of Lesbos. Her works, unfortunately, have been lost to time, but she is mentioned by several ancient writers for her contributions to lyric poetry.
In the 2nd century AD, a Roman woman named Meleena Tertia was noted for her philanthropy and patronage of the arts. She was a prominent figure in the city of Pompeii and is believed to have funded the construction of a public bathhouse that bore her name.
During the Byzantine Empire, a noblewoman named Meleena Palaiologina lived in the 14th century. She was a member of the influential Palaiologos dynasty and is mentioned in historical records for her involvement in political affairs and her support of the Orthodox Church.
In the 16th century, an Italian Renaissance painter named Meleena Veneziano gained recognition for her portraits and religious works. She was part of the Venetian school of painting and is credited with influencing the development of the Baroque style.
Another notable figure with the name Meleena was a Russian poet and activist who lived in the late 19th century. Meleena Mikhailovna Shchepkina was known for her lyrical poems that often addressed social issues and the struggle for women's rights.
While the name Meleena has been relatively uncommon throughout history, it has persisted across various cultures and time periods, with individuals bearing this name leaving their mark in various fields, from philosophy and literature to the arts and political spheres.
People
Meleena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meleena 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
Meleena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meleena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meleena 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Meleena a common name?
We classify Meleena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 210 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meleena most popular?
The single biggest year for Meleena was 2001, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meleena is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Meleena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 210 people with the name Meleena, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,260 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 Meleena 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 Meleena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meleena appears almost entirely female. Of the 214 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Meleena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meleena is Hispanic at 40.5%. The next largest groups are White (31.9%) and Black (10.0%). 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 Meleena most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Meleena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.5% (85 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 Meleena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meleena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meleena 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 Meleena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meleena 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 Meleena 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 are called Meleena?
Find out how many people have the name Meleena on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.