Melis
A Turkish feminine name meaning "smooth, calm, mild-mannered".
Name Census estimates that about 326 living Americans carry the first name Melis. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melis today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melis births was 2015 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melis. 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 Melis with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
326
~ 1 in 1,051,394 Americans
Peak year
2015
19 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,755
Tracked since 1987
Census
Melis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 526 people with the first name Melis, which placed it at #19,885 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
#19,885
National first-name rank
People counted
526
526 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melis is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.2%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Melis 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 Melis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.9% · 410
- Hispanic or Latino11.2% · 59
- Two or more races3.8% · 20
- Black or African American3.2% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
Popularity
Melis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melis from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 115 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Melis remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melis 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 Melis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melis' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Melis
The name Melis has its origins in the Turkish language and culture, dating back several centuries. It is a diminutive form of the Turkish name Melisa, which is derived from the Greek word "melissa," meaning "honey bee." This connection to nature and sweetness has imbued the name with a sense of gentleness and grace throughout its history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Melis can be found in the 16th-century Ottoman Empire, where it was used by members of the royal court and aristocracy. During this period, the name gained popularity among the elite circles of Turkish society, reflecting its association with refinement and elegance.
In the realm of literature, the name Melis has been immortalized in several works of Turkish poetry and prose. One notable example is the 17th-century poet Melis Efendi, whose passionate verses and eloquent lines have earned him a place in the annals of Turkish literature.
As the centuries passed, the name Melis continued to hold a special significance in the Turkish cultural landscape. In the 19th century, Melis Kadigil, a renowned calligrapher and artist, left an indelible mark on the world of Islamic calligraphy, her intricate works adorning the walls of mosques and palaces throughout the Ottoman Empire.
Moving into the 20th century, the name Melis gained international recognition through the accomplishments of remarkable individuals. Melis Abravanel, a Turkish-Jewish author and activist born in 1892, played a pivotal role in advocating for women's rights and social reform in the early years of the Turkish Republic.
Another notable figure bearing the name Melis was Melis Behlil, a celebrated Turkish singer and composer born in 1914. Her powerful voice and captivating performances helped to preserve and promote the rich musical traditions of her homeland, earning her critical acclaim both at home and abroad.
In the realm of sports, Melis Durul, a Turkish tennis player born in 1988, has made her mark on the international stage, representing her country in numerous prestigious tournaments and achieving notable rankings in her career.
While these are just a few examples, the name Melis has been carried by many remarkable individuals throughout history, each leaving their unique imprint on the world through their talents, achievements, and contributions to their respective fields.
People
Melis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melis 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
Melis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 326 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melis 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 1,051,394 US residents.
Is Melis a common name?
We classify Melis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 331 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melis most popular?
The single biggest year for Melis was 2015, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melis is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 526 people with the name Melis, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,885 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 Melis 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 Melis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melis leans strongly female. 471 people counted with this name were female (89.4%), compared with 56 male bearers (10.6%). 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 Melis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melis is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.2%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Melis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Melis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.9% (410 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 Melis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melis a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melis 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 Melis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melis 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 Melis 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 Melis?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.