Merce
A Catalan feminine name likely derived from the Latin word "merces", meaning "reward".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Merce. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 50.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Merce today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merce births was 1925 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merce. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Merce. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1925
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1925 SSA rank
#4,666
Tracked since 1925
Census
Merce in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Merce, which placed it at #43,340 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
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
62.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merce
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merce is Hispanic at 62.6%. The next largest groups are White (19.0%) and Black (10.4%). 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 Merce 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 Merce at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino62.6% · 102
- White19.0% · 31
- Black or African American10.4% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Merce
Merce is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 10 total registrations, 5 (50.0%) were male and 5 (50.0%) were female.
Merce as a male name
- Ranked #4,666 in 1925
- 5 male births in 1925
- Peak: 1925 (5 births)
Merce as a female name
- Ranked #5,359 in 1927
- 5 female births in 1927
- Peak: 1927 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Merce on both sides of the split. Of the 160 people counted with this name, 71 were male (44.4%) and 89 were female (55.6%).
Popularity
Merce: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Merce 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 Merce during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 5 | 5 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Merce
The name Merce is derived from the Latin word "merces," meaning "reward" or "payment." It has its roots in the Roman culture and was likely used as a name during the ancient Roman era.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Merce gained popularity as it was associated with the concept of divine grace or reward. Some scholars believe it may have been used as a name for children born as a result of answered prayers or divine intervention.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merce is found in the writings of St. Jerome, a Christian scholar from the 4th century AD. He mentioned a woman named Merce in his epistles, indicating the name's usage during that time period.
In the Middle Ages, the name Merce was particularly popular in the regions of Catalonia and Valencia, which were part of the Crown of Aragon. It was often used as a feminine form of the name Mercè, which was derived from the Catalan word "mercè" meaning "mercy" or "grace."
One notable historical figure with the name Merce was Merce Rodoreda (1908-1983), a renowned Catalan novelist and writer. Her works, such as "The Time of the Doves" and "The Broken Mirror," explored themes of identity, memory, and the struggles of women in post-war Spain.
Another famous bearer of the name was Merce Cunningham (1919-2009), an American dancer and choreographer who was a leading figure in the avant-garde dance movement. He collaborated extensively with composers like John Cage and influenced the development of modern dance.
In the world of art, Merce Palmers (1917-2013) was a Spanish sculptor and painter known for her abstract works and use of unconventional materials. Her sculptures were exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
The name Merce has also been carried by religious figures, such as Merce de Berrio (1824-1888), a Spanish nun who founded the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and the Poor.
Lastly, Merce Prats i Prats (1928-2022) was a Catalan philologist and professor who made significant contributions to the study of the Catalan language and literature. She was recognized with various awards for her academic work.
People
Merce + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merce 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
Merce: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merce?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merce 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 - US residents.
Is Merce a common name?
We classify Merce as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merce most popular?
The single biggest year for Merce was 1925, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merce is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merce in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Merce, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 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 Merce 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 Merce?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Merce on both sides of the split. Of the 160 people counted with this name, 71 were male (44.4%) and 89 were female (55.6%). 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 Merce?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merce is Hispanic at 62.6%. The next largest groups are White (19.0%) and Black (10.4%). 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 Merce most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Merce in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.6% (102 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 Merce in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merce a female name?
Yes, 50.0% of people registered as Merce 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 Merce still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merce 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 Merce 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 Merce?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.