Merley
Meaning "bright meadow", a feminine name of English origin.
Name Census estimates that about 1 living Americans carry the first name Merley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Merley today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merley births was 1916 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merley. 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
- • The typical person named Merley is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Merleys were born before 1954.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Merley. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
1
~ 1 in 342,754,338 Americans
Peak year
1916
5 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1916 SSA rank
#4,297
Tracked since 1916
Gender
Gender distribution for Merley
Merley is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 15 total registrations, 5 (33.3%) were male and 10 (66.7%) were female.
Merley as a male name
- Ranked #4,297 in 1916
- 5 male births in 1916
- Peak: 1916 (5 births)
Merley as a female name
- Ranked #4,764 in 1934
- 5 female births in 1934
- Peak: 1921 (5 births)
Popularity
Merley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merley from the 1910s through to the 1930s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merley 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 Merley 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 Merley
The origins of the given name Merley can be traced back to the Old English language, specifically deriving from the combination of two words: "mere" meaning "lake" or "pool," and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person living near a lake or pond within a meadow or clearing in the forests of ancient England.
During the Anglo-Saxon period, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries, names often had descriptive meanings related to geographical features or personal characteristics. The name Merley likely emerged as a locational surname, initially identifying an individual's place of origin or residence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merley can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest of England. This ancient document mentioned a landowner named Merley in the county of Herefordshire.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Merley appeared sporadically in various historical records and chronicles. One notable bearer of this name was Merley de Montfort, a minor noble who lived in the 13th century and was a distant relative of the powerful Montfort family, known for their role in the Barons' Wars against King Henry III.
In the 16th century, a Merley Hawkins was recorded as a merchant and ship owner based in Plymouth, England. He is believed to have been involved in early expeditions to the West Indies and the Caribbean, contributing to the expansion of English trade and exploration during that period.
During the English Civil War of the 17th century, a figure named Merley Cromwell emerged as a minor military officer serving under Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarian forces. Although not directly related to the Lord Protector, Merley Cromwell's involvement in this pivotal conflict has been documented in various military records and accounts of the time.
In more recent centuries, the name Merley has been relatively uncommon, but a few notable individuals have borne it. Merley Whittier, born in 1842, was an American poet and abolitionist known for her works advocating for the abolition of slavery and women's rights. Her poems were published in various literary journals and anthologies of the time.
People
Merley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merley 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
Merley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merley 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 342,754,338 US residents.
Is Merley a common name?
We classify Merley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 3.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merley most popular?
The single biggest year for Merley was 1916, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merley is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Merley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merley a female name?
Yes, 66.7% of people registered as Merley 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 Merley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merley 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 Merley 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Merley?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.