Mercedes
A Spanish feminine given name derived from the title "Our Lady of Mercy".
Name Census estimates that about 36,731 living Americans carry the first name Mercedes. It is a predominantly female name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Mercedes today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mercedes births was 1991 (1,808 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mercedes. 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 Mercedes with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Mercedes is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 369 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
37K
~ 1 in 9,331 Americans
Peak year
1991
1,808 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2004 SSA rank
#1,451
Tracked since 1880
Census
Mercedes in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 62,843 people with the first name Mercedes, which placed it at #783 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
#783
National first-name rank
People counted
63K
62,843 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
20.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
66.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mercedes
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mercedes is Hispanic at 66.1%. The next largest groups are White (17.6%) and Black (10.1%). 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 Mercedes 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 Mercedes at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino66.1% · 41,512
- White17.6% · 11,042
- Black or African American10.1% · 6,335
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 1,971
- Two or more races2.6% · 1,603
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 380
Gender
Gender distribution for Mercedes
Out of the 46,421 babies given the name Mercedes since 1880, 99.2% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Mercedes as a male name
- Ranked #9,605 in 2004
- 7 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1988 (27 births)
Mercedes as a female name
- Ranked #1,451 in 2024
- 151 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (1,798 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mercedes leans strongly female. 62,176 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 674 male bearers (1.1%).
Popularity
Mercedes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mercedes from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 15,376 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mercedes 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 Mercedes during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mercedes' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Mercedes, while Rhode Island, Delaware, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 796 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mercedes
The name Mercedes has its origins in the Spanish language and can be traced back to the medieval era. It is derived from the Spanish title "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes" (Our Lady of Mercy), which was a Roman Catholic order founded in Barcelona in 1218. The name Mercedes is a reference to the Virgin Mary, who was revered as the embodiment of mercy and compassion.
The name Mercedes gained popularity in Spain and other Spanish-speaking regions during the Middle Ages, particularly among families with strong Catholic faith. It was often given to children in the hope that they would be blessed with the virtues of mercy and grace.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mercedes can be found in the historical records of the Kingdom of Aragon, where a noblewoman named Mercedes de Aragón lived in the 13th century. She was known for her charitable works and dedication to helping the less fortunate.
In the realm of literature, the name Mercedes appears in the novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas, published in 1844. The character Mercedes was the love interest of the protagonist, Edmond Dantès.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Mercedes. One of the most famous was Mercedes de Acosta (1893-1968), a Spanish-American poet, playwright, and novelist who was known for her literary works and her unconventional lifestyle.
Another notable figure was Mercedes Bashir (1858-1909), a Syrian-Lebanese writer and activist who played a significant role in the Arab Renaissance movement and advocated for women's rights and education.
In the world of music, Mercedes Sosa (1935-2009) was an Argentine singer-songwriter and activist who became a prominent figure in the Nueva Canción movement. Her powerful voice and socially conscious lyrics earned her the nickname "The Voice of the Voiceless."
Mercedes Pardo (1828-1894) was a Colombian writer and educator who made significant contributions to the literature and education systems of her country. She founded several schools and published works that focused on the empowerment of women.
Finally, Mercedes Cabrera (1935-2016) was a Cuban singer and actress who gained fame in the 1950s and 1960s for her performances in Mexican films and television shows. Her vibrant personality and talent made her a beloved cultural icon in Latin America.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Mercedes
People
Mercedes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mercedes 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
Mercedes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mercedes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 36,731 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mercedes 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 9,331 US residents.
Is Mercedes a common name?
We classify Mercedes as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 46,421 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mercedes most popular?
The single biggest year for Mercedes was 1991, when 1,808 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mercedes is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mercedes in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 62,843 people with the name Mercedes, or 20.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #783 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 Mercedes 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 Mercedes?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mercedes leans strongly female. 62,176 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 674 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Mercedes?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mercedes is Hispanic at 66.1%. The next largest groups are White (17.6%) and Black (10.1%). 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 Mercedes most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mercedes in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.1% (41,512 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 Mercedes in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mercedes a female name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Mercedes 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 Mercedes still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mercedes 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 Mercedes 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 Mercedes as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.