Merina
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly Greek, meaning "wise protector".
Name Census estimates that about 328 living Americans carry the first name Merina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merina today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merina births was 1998 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merina. 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 Merina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
328
~ 1 in 1,044,983 Americans
Peak year
1998
19 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,627
Tracked since 1965
Census
Merina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 612 people with the first name Merina, which placed it at #17,827 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
#17,827
National first-name rank
People counted
612
612 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
32.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merina is Asian/Pacific Islander at 32.4%. The next largest groups are White (31.0%) and Hispanic (19.3%). 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 Merina 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 Merina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander32.4% · 198
- White31.0% · 190
- Hispanic or Latino19.3% · 118
- Black or African American12.4% · 76
- Two or more races4.1% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 5
Popularity
Merina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merina from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 146 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
Merina 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 Merina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Merinas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Merina
The given name Merina has its origins in the Malagasy language, spoken by the ethnic Malagasy people of Madagascar. It is believed to have derived from the ancient Malagasy word "marina," meaning "faithful" or "true." This name was commonly used among the Merina people, the largest ethnic group in Madagascar, who were historically centered in the central highlands around the capital city of Antananarivo.
In the 16th century, when the first European explorers arrived on the island, they encountered the Merina kingdom, which was one of the most powerful and influential kingdoms on Madagascar at that time. Historical records from that period mention several Merina rulers and nobles bearing this name, indicating its widespread use among the Merina aristocracy.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Merina is found in the 17th century, when a Merina princess named Merina Andriantsimitoviaminandriana was born in 1638. She was the daughter of King Andrianjaka and played a significant role in the political affairs of the kingdom during her lifetime.
In the 18th century, another notable figure named Merina Andrianampoinimerina (1745-1810) emerged as the first king to unite the Merina people under a single rule. He is revered as a legendary figure in Malagasy history and is credited with laying the foundations for the modern Malagasy state.
During the 19th century, the name Merina gained even more prominence when Queen Ranavalona I (1788-1861), one of the most influential and controversial rulers of Madagascar, ascended to the throne. Although her given name was Rabodoandrianampoinimerina, she was widely known as Ranavalona, which means "the respected one" in the Malagasy language.
Another famous figure with the name Merina was Merina Rasoamaramihaja (1884-1964), a Malagasy writer and educator who played a significant role in preserving and promoting the Malagasy language and culture. She was also one of the first Malagasy women to receive a formal education and was a pioneer in the field of women's rights.
Throughout its history, the name Merina has been closely associated with the cultural and political identity of the Merina people, and it continues to be a popular name among the Malagasy population today, serving as a reminder of their rich heritage and traditions.
People
Merina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merina 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
Merina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 328 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merina 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 1,044,983 US residents.
Is Merina a common name?
We classify Merina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 338 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merina most popular?
The single biggest year for Merina was 1998, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merina is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 612 people with the name Merina, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,827 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 Merina 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 Merina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merina leans strongly female. 592 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 16 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Merina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merina is Asian/Pacific Islander at 32.4%. The next largest groups are White (31.0%) and Hispanic (19.3%). 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 Merina most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Merina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 32.4% (198 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 Merina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merina 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 Merina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merina 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 Merina 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 Merina?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.