Merlynn
Mythical feminine name derived from the legend of Merlin, meaning "sea fortress".
Name Census estimates that about 30 living Americans carry the first name Merlynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merlynn today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merlynn births was 1948 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merlynn. 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 Merlynn is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Merlynns were born before 1960.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Merlynn. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
30
~ 1 in 11,425,145 Americans
Peak year
1948
9 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1958 SSA rank
#6,709
Tracked since 1939
Census
Merlynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 190 people with the first name Merlynn, which placed it at #39,614 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
#39,614
National first-name rank
People counted
190
190 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merlynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merlynn is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.2%) and Black (8.4%). 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 Merlynn 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 Merlynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.9% · 129
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.2% · 27
- Black or African American8.4% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.2% · 6
Popularity
Merlynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merlynn from the 1930s through to the 1950s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 30 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Merlynn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merlynn 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 Merlynn 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 Merlynn
The name Merlynn has its origins in the Germanic language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is a variant of the name Merlin, which is derived from the Welsh word "myrddin," meaning "sea fortress" or "sea hill."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merlynn can be found in the Arthurian legends. Merlin, the wizard and advisor to King Arthur, was a prominent figure in these tales. The name Merlynn was likely a variation used in some of the literary works that retold these stories.
In the 12th century, a Latin work titled "Historia Regum Britanniae" (History of the Kings of Britain) by Geoffrey of Monmouth featured a character named Merlinus, which was the Latin form of Merlin. This text played a significant role in popularizing the Arthurian legends and the name Merlin, from which Merlynn is derived.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the name Merlynn was Merlynn, a Welsh poet who lived in the 15th century. His works were included in the "Red Book of Hergest," a famous manuscript containing Welsh literature from the 14th and 15th centuries.
Another notable figure with the name Merlynn was Sir Merlynn Leveque, an English knight who lived in the 16th century. He served under King Henry VIII and was known for his military exploits during the Anglo-Scottish Wars.
In the 17th century, Merlynn Willington, an English philosopher and writer, gained recognition for his works on natural philosophy and metaphysics. His book, "The Mysteries of Nature Unveiled," published in 1674, was widely read and discussed among scholars of the time.
The name Merlynn also appeared in literary works, such as the play "The Birth of Merlin" by William Rowley, published in 1622. In this work, the character Merlynn was depicted as a wizard and prophet.
In the 19th century, Merlynn Cavendish, an English author and poet, wrote several works of fiction and poetry. Her collection of poems, "Whisperings from the Woods," published in 1873, received critical acclaim for its vivid descriptions of nature and its profound themes.
People
Merlynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merlynn 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
Merlynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merlynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merlynn 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 11,425,145 US residents.
Is Merlynn a common name?
We classify Merlynn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 56 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merlynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Merlynn was 1948, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merlynn is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merlynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 190 people with the name Merlynn, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,614 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 Merlynn 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 Merlynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merlynn leans strongly female. 161 people counted with this name were female (87.0%), compared with 24 male bearers (13.0%). 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 Merlynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merlynn is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.2%) and Black (8.4%). 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 Merlynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Merlynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.9% (129 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 Merlynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merlynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merlynn 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 Merlynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merlynn 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 Merlynn 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 called Merlynn?
Find out how many Americans are named Merlynn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.