Melita
A feminine name deriving from ancient Greek, meaning "from Melite" or "honey".
Name Census estimates that about 1,312 living Americans carry the first name Melita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melita today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melita births was 1973 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melita. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 261,246 Americans
Peak year
1973
45 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,787
Tracked since 1894
Popularity
Melita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melita from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 397 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melita 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 Melita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, North Carolina, Alabama recorded the most babies named Melita, while Texas, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Melita
The name Melita has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is derived from the Greek word "melita" which means "honey". The name likely emerged sometime during the classical period of ancient Greece, around the 5th century BC.
Melita was the name of a nymph in Greek mythology who was one of the companions of the goddess Artemis. She was known for her sweetness and for attracting bees with her honey-like aroma. The name may have been initially given to children as a way to wish them a sweet and pleasant personality.
The earliest recorded use of the name Melita can be found in ancient Greek texts from the 4th century BC. It appears in some of the works of the playwright Aristophanes, as well as in various inscriptions and records from that time period.
In the New Testament of the Bible, the name Melita is mentioned as the name of the island now known as Malta. According to the Acts of the Apostles, the apostle Paul was shipwrecked on the island, which was then called Melita, during his journey to Rome in the 1st century AD.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Melita. One of the earliest was Melita of Sardis, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 5th century BC and was a student of the renowned philosopher Socrates.
Another notable Melita was Melita of Lesbos, a Greek poet and lyricist who lived in the 3rd century BC and wrote poems in the Aeolic dialect. Her works were highly regarded in ancient times and were included in the famous Greek anthology known as the "Garland of Meleager".
In the Middle Ages, there was a Saint Melita who was a Christian martyr from the 3rd century AD. She was born in Gaul (modern-day France) and was executed for her faith during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian.
In more recent history, Melita Norwood was a British civil servant who became a Soviet spy during the Cold War. She was born in 1912 and her espionage activities were not discovered until the late 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Another notable Melita was Melita Stedman Norwood, a Canadian novelist and short story writer who lived from 1876 to 1945. She was known for her works exploring the experiences of women in rural Ontario.
People
Melita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melita 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
Melita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,312 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melita 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 261,246 US residents.
Is Melita a common name?
We classify Melita as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,861 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melita most popular?
The single biggest year for Melita was 1973, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melita is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Melita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melita 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.
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.