Mercer
A variant of Master, referring to a dealer in textile goods.
Name Census estimates that about 1,057 living Americans carry the first name Mercer. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Mercer today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mercer births was 2016 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mercer. 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 Mercer with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 324,271 Americans
Peak year
2016
61 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,072
Tracked since 1881
Census
Mercer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 977 people with the first name Mercer, which placed it at #12,661 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
#12,661
National first-name rank
People counted
977
977 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mercer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mercer is White at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Two or More Races (8.2%). 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 Mercer 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 Mercer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.0% · 694
- Black or African American13.0% · 127
- Two or more races8.2% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Mercer
Mercer leans heavily male at 86.1% of total registrations, but 208 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mercer as a male name
- Ranked #3,072 in 2024
- 40 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (44 births)
Mercer as a female name
- Ranked #9,980 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mercer on both sides of the split. Of the 984 people counted with this name, 751 were male (76.3%) and 233 were female (23.7%).
Popularity
Mercer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mercer from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 409 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mercer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mercer 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 Mercer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mercers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Georgia, California, Washington recorded the most babies named Mercer, while North Carolina, Texas, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mercer
The name Mercer has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the occupation of a merchant or trader. It stems from the Old French word "mercier," which means "dealer in textiles or fabrics." The name can be traced back to the Middle Ages, a period when trade and commerce were thriving in Europe.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Mercer can be found in England during the 12th century. At that time, it was commonly used as a surname to denote a person's profession as a merchant or trader of fabrics and textiles. The name gained popularity as many individuals took up this occupation, and it became a hereditary surname passed down through generations.
One of the earliest historical references to the name Mercer can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of land ownership and taxation compiled in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. The book mentions several individuals with the name Mercer, indicating their occupation as merchants or traders.
In the 13th century, the name Mercer appeared in various literary works and historical records. The famous English scholar and philosopher Roger Bacon, born around 1219, mentioned a merchant named Mercer in one of his writings. Additionally, the name is found in the records of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, a prominent guild of textile merchants in London, which was established in the 14th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mercer. One of the earliest recorded figures was John Mercer (c. 1305 - c. 1367), an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1349. Another prominent figure was Hugh Mercer (1726 - 1777), a Scottish-born soldier and physician who fought in the American Revolutionary War and served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army.
Other notable individuals with the name Mercer include:
1. Jesse Mercer (1769 - 1841), an influential American Baptist minister and co-founder of Mercer University in Georgia.
2. David Mercer (1923 - 1998), an English playwright and screenwriter best known for his works like "Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment" and "Ride a Cock Horse."
3. Johnny Mercer (1909 - 1976), an American songwriter and singer who co-wrote numerous popular songs, including "Moon River" and "Hooray for Hollywood."
4. Inge Mercer (1938 - 2022), an Austrian-born composer and educator who made significant contributions to contemporary classical music.
5. Mayer Mercer (1846 - 1928), a Polish-born American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
From its humble beginnings as an occupational name, Mercer has evolved into a given name with a rich historical legacy, spanning various cultures and time periods.
People
Mercer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mercer 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
Mercer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mercer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,057 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mercer 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 324,271 US residents.
Is Mercer a common name?
We classify Mercer as "Rare". It ranks above 90.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,501 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mercer most popular?
The single biggest year for Mercer was 2016, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mercer is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mercer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 977 people with the name Mercer, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,661 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 Mercer 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 Mercer?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mercer on both sides of the split. Of the 984 people counted with this name, 751 were male (76.3%) and 233 were female (23.7%). 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 Mercer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mercer is White at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Two or More Races (8.2%). 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 Mercer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mercer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.0% (694 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 Mercer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mercer a male name?
Yes, 86.1% of people registered as Mercer in the SSA data are male. 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 Mercer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mercer 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 Mercer 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 share the name Mercer?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.