Merick
A variant form of Merrick, an English name derived from the surname referring to the region of Merrick.
Name Census estimates that about 181 living Americans carry the first name Merick. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Merick today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merick births was 2006 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merick. 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
181
~ 1 in 1,893,670 Americans
Peak year
2006
15 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2021 SSA rank
#11,665
Tracked since 1995
Census
Merick in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 266 people with the first name Merick, which placed it at #31,950 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
#31,950
National first-name rank
People counted
266
266 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merick
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merick is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Black (9.8%). 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 Merick 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 Merick at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.5% · 177
- Hispanic or Latino11.3% · 30
- Black or African American9.8% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.1% · 19
- Two or more races4.5% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
Popularity
Merick: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merick from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 84 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merick 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 Merick 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 Merick
The name Merick is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with roots tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon era in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old English words "mære," meaning famous or renowned, and "rīc," meaning powerful or rich. The name's original spelling was likely "Mæreric" or a similar variation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merick can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Mæreric" in this historical record, suggesting its usage during the Norman period in England.
In the Middle Ages, the name Merick was predominantly used in England and parts of Scotland. It was associated with nobility and wealth, reflecting the name's original meaning of "famous and powerful." During this time, several historical figures bore the name Merick, including Merick de Hereford (c. 1150-1220), a prominent English nobleman and landowner.
As the name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, such as "Meric," "Merrick," and "Merric." One notable bearer of the name was Meric Casaubon (1599-1671), a French-English classical scholar and theologian who contributed significantly to the study of ancient texts.
In the 18th century, Merick Trench (1695-1768), an Irish politician and landowner, was a prominent figure who held the name. He served as a Member of Parliament and was involved in the governance of Ireland during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Another influential individual with the name Merick was Merick Waring (1808-1893), an American physician and surgeon who made significant contributions to the field of medicine. He is particularly known for his work on the treatment of gunshot wounds during the American Civil War.
In the 20th century, Merick Bouissou (1911-1995), a French artist and sculptor, gained recognition for his abstract and figurative works. His sculptures and paintings explored various themes and were exhibited in galleries across Europe.
Overall, the name Merick has a rich history rooted in the Old English language, with associations of fame, power, and nobility. While its usage has been relatively limited compared to more common names, it has been borne by notable individuals across various fields throughout history.
People
Merick + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merick 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
Merick: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merick?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 181 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merick 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 1,893,670 US residents.
Is Merick a common name?
We classify Merick as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 183 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merick most popular?
The single biggest year for Merick was 2006, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merick is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merick in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 266 people with the name Merick, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,950 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 Merick 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 Merick?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merick leans strongly male. 237 people counted with this name were male (90.1%), compared with 26 female bearers (9.9%). 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 Merick?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merick is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Black (9.8%). 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 Merick most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Merick in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.5% (177 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 Merick in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merick a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merick 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 Merick still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merick 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 Merick 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 Merick?
Find out how many Americans are named Merick on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.