Merilyn
From old English roots, a variant of Marilyn meaning "bitter sea strength".
Name Census estimates that about 1,008 living Americans carry the first name Merilyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merilyn today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merilyn births was 1946 (75 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merilyn. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 340,034 Americans
Peak year
1946
75 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,626
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Merilyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merilyn from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 585 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merilyn 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 Merilyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Merilyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, New York, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Merilyn, while Utah, New Jersey, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Merilyn
The name Merilyn is a variant spelling of the feminine given name Marilyn, which is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Mary. Mary itself is the English form of the biblical name Miriam, which is thought to be derived from the Egyptian root "mr" meaning "bitter" or "beloved." In ancient Hebrew culture, the name Miriam was borne by the sister of Moses and Aaron, a prominent figure in the Bible.
The variant spelling Merilyn emerged in the early 20th century, likely influenced by the popularity of the actress Marilyn Monroe, whose birth name was Norma Jeane Mortenson. While the origin of Marilyn Monroe's stage name is uncertain, it has been suggested that she may have chosen the name as a combination of her mother's maiden name, "Monroe," and the first name "Marilyn."
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Merilyn can be found in the 1920 United States Census, where a few individuals were listed with this spelling. However, it was not until after Marilyn Monroe's rise to fame in the 1950s that the variant spelling gained more widespread use.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Merilyn or its variations. One of the earliest was Merilyn Sakova (1923-2012), a Canadian author and educator who wrote several books on Native American history and culture. Another was Merilyn Simonds (born 1949), a Canadian author known for her works of creative non-fiction and poetry.
In the realm of sports, Merilyn Hacker (born 1942) is an American poet and academic who has won numerous awards for her work, including the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and the Lambda Literary Award. Merilyn Manley-Abbott (born 1945) is a former Australian sprinter who competed in the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games, winning a silver medal in the 4x100m relay in 1968.
Finally, Merilyn Phillips (1949-2019) was an American actress and singer best known for her role as Sandy Ritz in the 1978 film adaptation of the musical Grease, starring alongside John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
People
Merilyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merilyn 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
Merilyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merilyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,008 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merilyn 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 340,034 US residents.
Is Merilyn a common name?
We classify Merilyn as "Rare". It ranks above 90.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,317 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merilyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Merilyn was 1946, when 75 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merilyn is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Merilyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merilyn 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.
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.