Merlie
A feminine name of uncertain origin possibly meaning "bright lake" or "shining sea".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Merlie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merlie today is around 88 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merlie births was 1921 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merlie. 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 Merlie is about 88 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Merlies were born before 1948.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Merlie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1921
15 babies that year
Average age
88
years old
1948 SSA rank
#5,768
Tracked since 1897
Census
Merlie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 277 people with the first name Merlie, which placed it at #31,090 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
#31,090
National first-name rank
People counted
277
277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
60.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merlie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merlie is Asian/Pacific Islander at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (18.8%) and Black (14.1%). 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 Merlie 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 Merlie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander60.6% · 168
- White18.8% · 52
- Black or African American14.1% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 9
- Two or more races2.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Merlie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merlie from the 1890s through to the 1940s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 84 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merlie 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 Merlie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Merlies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Merlie
The name Merlie finds its origins in the French language, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is a diminutive form derived from the Old French name Merlie, which in turn comes from the Latin name Emericus or Amalricus. These Latin names are believed to have their roots in the Germanic words "amal," meaning "work" or "labor," and "ric," meaning "power" or "ruler."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merlie can be found in the 12th-century epic poem, "The Song of Roland." In this legendary tale, Merlie is mentioned as a noble knight in the service of Charlemagne, the renowned Frankish king and Holy Roman Emperor. This literary reference suggests that the name held a certain degree of prestige during that era.
In the 13th century, a notable figure bearing the name Merlie was Merlie de Muret, a French troubadour and poet renowned for his contributions to the courtly love tradition. Born in 1200 in the Occitan region of southern France, de Muret's lyrical works celebrated the ideals of chivalry and devotion to one's beloved.
Moving forward to the 15th century, Merlie Amboise (1430-1492) was a French noblewoman and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Brittany. Amboise was known for her intelligence, wit, and influential role in the royal court of the time.
In the 17th century, Merlie Naudé (1604-1676) was a French scholar and librarian who served as the personal librarian to Cardinal Richelieu and later to Cardinal Mazarin. Naudé played a significant role in the development of the Bibliothèque Mazarine, one of the earliest public libraries in Europe.
Another notable figure was Merlie de Sévigné (1626-1696), a French aristocrat and prolific letter writer. Her correspondence, spanning several decades, provided a vivid and insightful glimpse into the social and cultural life of 17th-century France, making her letters a valuable historical resource.
It is important to note that while the name Merlie has deep roots in French history and literature, its usage has been relatively limited compared to more common names. Nonetheless, it remains a unique and intriguing name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Merlie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merlie 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
Merlie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merlie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merlie 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Merlie a common name?
We classify Merlie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 261 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merlie most popular?
The single biggest year for Merlie was 1921, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merlie is about 88 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merlie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 277 people with the name Merlie, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,090 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 Merlie 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 Merlie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merlie leans strongly female. 275 people counted with this name were female (95.2%), compared with 14 male bearers (4.8%). 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 Merlie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merlie is Asian/Pacific Islander at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (18.8%) and Black (14.1%). 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 Merlie most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Merlie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.6% (168 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 Merlie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merlie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merlie 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 Merlie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merlie 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 Merlie 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 common is the name Merlie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.