Meredeth
Great protector or sea protector from the Old Welsh name elements "myr" and "idwg".
Name Census estimates that about 93 living Americans carry the first name Meredeth. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Meredeth today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meredeth births was 1982 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meredeth. 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 Meredeth. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
93
~ 1 in 3,685,531 Americans
Peak year
1982
14 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1990 SSA rank
#14,416
Tracked since 1950
Census
Meredeth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 214 people with the first name Meredeth, which placed it at #36,840 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
#36,840
National first-name rank
People counted
214
214 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meredeth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meredeth is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Meredeth 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 Meredeth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.5% · 183
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 10
- Two or more races4.7% · 10
- Black or African American2.3% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
Popularity
Meredeth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meredeth from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 49 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
Meredeth 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 Meredeth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Meredeth
The name Meredeth originates from the Welsh language and is derived from the elements "mer" meaning "sea" and "edyth" meaning "wealth" or "fortune." It is believed to have emerged in the medieval period, around the 11th or 12th century, in Wales and the surrounding regions of the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Meredeth can be found in the ancient Welsh tale of "Culhwch and Olwen," which is part of the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh prose tales. In this story, a character named Meredydd (an alternate spelling of Meredeth) is mentioned as one of King Arthur's warriors.
During the Middle Ages, the name Meredeth was relatively common among the Welsh nobility and gentry. Notably, Meredith ap Bleddyn (c. 1070-1132) was a Welsh prince and Lord of Brycheiniog, a powerful figure in the region during the late 11th and early 12th centuries.
In the 16th century, the name gained some popularity in England, particularly among the gentry and aristocracy. One notable figure was Sir Meredith Hanmer (c. 1543-1604), a Welsh politician and Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Another prominent individual with the name Meredith was George Meredith (1828-1909), an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. He is best known for his novels, including "The Egoist" and "The Ordeal of Richard Feverel."
During the 20th century, the name Meredith remained relatively popular, particularly in the United States. One notable individual was Meredith Willson (1902-1984), an American composer, playwright, and author best known for writing the book, lyrics, and music for the Broadway musical "The Music Man."
Other famous individuals with the name Meredith include Meredith Vieira (born 1953), an American journalist and television host, and Meredith Brooks (born 1958), an American singer-songwriter known for her hit single "Bitch."
People
Meredeth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meredeth 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
Meredeth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meredeth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 93 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meredeth 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 3,685,531 US residents.
Is Meredeth a common name?
We classify Meredeth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meredeth most popular?
The single biggest year for Meredeth was 1982, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meredeth is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Meredeth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 214 people with the name Meredeth, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,840 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 Meredeth 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 Meredeth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meredeth leans strongly female. 213 people counted with this name were female (97.3%), compared with 6 male bearers (2.7%). 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 Meredeth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meredeth is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Meredeth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Meredeth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.5% (183 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 Meredeth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meredeth a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meredeth 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 Meredeth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meredeth 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 Meredeth 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 Meredeth?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.