Meleny
A Greek name meaning "black, dark", inspired by the Greek word "melanos".
Name Census estimates that about 516 living Americans carry the first name Meleny. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Meleny today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meleny births was 2006 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meleny. 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
516
~ 1 in 664,253 Americans
Peak year
2006
42 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,564
Tracked since 1989
Census
Meleny in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 486 people with the first name Meleny, which placed it at #21,031 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
#21,031
National first-name rank
People counted
486
486 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
84.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meleny
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meleny is Hispanic at 84.0%. The next largest groups are White (11.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%). 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 Meleny 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 Meleny at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino84.0% · 408
- White11.7% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 7
- Two or more races1.4% · 7
- Black or African American1.0% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Meleny: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meleny from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 337 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
Meleny 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 Meleny during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melenys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Meleny, while New York, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 77 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Meleny
The name Meleny is a feminine name of uncertain origin, but it is believed to have roots in various cultures and languages from around the world. Some scholars suggest that it may have originated from the Greek word "meli," meaning honey, or the Latin word "melinus," meaning yellow or honey-colored.
Another possible origin of the name Meleny could be from the Hebrew name "Melinah," which means "of the moon" or "lunar." This name was popular among Jewish communities in ancient times and may have been adapted into various forms, including Meleny.
In some Eastern European cultures, the name Meleny may have derived from the Slavic root "mel," meaning "beloved" or "dear one." This etymology could be linked to the use of the name in countries like Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Meleny can be traced back to the 12th century, when it appeared in a medieval text from France. In this text, Meleny was mentioned as the name of a noblewoman who lived during the reign of King Louis VII.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Meleny. One such person was Meleny of Montfort (1182-1233), a French noblewoman who played a significant role in the Albigensian Crusade. Another was Meleny of Burgundy (1293-1349), a princess and countess who was involved in the Hundred Years' War.
In the realm of literature, the name Meleny was used by the 16th-century English poet Edmund Spenser in his epic poem "The Faerie Queene." One of the characters in the poem was named Meleny, and she was portrayed as a virtuous and noble maiden.
Moving to more recent times, Meleny Gabor (1914-1997) was a Hungarian-American actress and socialite, best known for her role in the 1952 film "Moulin Rouge." She was also the younger sister of the famous actress Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Another notable bearer of the name was Meleny Edmunds (1938-2022), an American politician and civil rights activist who served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1988 to 2000.
While the origins of the name Meleny may be shrouded in uncertainty, its enduring presence throughout history and across various cultures has contributed to its unique charm and appeal.
People
Meleny + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meleny 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
Meleny: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meleny?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 516 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meleny 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 664,253 US residents.
Is Meleny a common name?
We classify Meleny as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 524 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meleny most popular?
The single biggest year for Meleny was 2006, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meleny is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Meleny in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 486 people with the name Meleny, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,031 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 Meleny 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 Meleny?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meleny appears almost entirely female. Of the 483 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Meleny?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meleny is Hispanic at 84.0%. The next largest groups are White (11.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%). 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 Meleny most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Meleny in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.0% (408 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 Meleny in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meleny a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meleny 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 Meleny still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meleny 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 Meleny 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 named Meleny?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.