Merriam
Variant of Miriam, a feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitter" or "rebellious".
Name Census estimates that about 87 living Americans carry the first name Merriam. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merriam today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merriam births was 1922 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merriam. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Merriam. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
87
~ 1 in 3,939,705 Americans
Peak year
1922
16 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2018 SSA rank
#15,039
Tracked since 1912
Census
Merriam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 363 people with the first name Merriam, which placed it at #25,907 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
#25,907
National first-name rank
People counted
363
363 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merriam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merriam is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (17.6%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Merriam 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 Merriam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.7% · 213
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.6% · 64
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 35
- Black or African American9.1% · 33
- Two or more races3.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
Popularity
Merriam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merriam from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 96 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
Merriam 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 Merriam 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 Merriam
The name Merriam has its origins in the Hebrew language and can be traced back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "miryam," which means "bitter" or "beloved of God." The name is closely related to the biblical name "Miriam," who was the sister of Moses and Aaron in the Old Testament.
The earliest recorded use of the name Merriam can be found in religious texts and historical records from the Middle East. It was a popular name among Jewish communities, and its variants were used in different regions and cultures over the centuries.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Merriam was Merriam of Venosa, an Italian Jewish poet who lived in the 13th century. She is known for her work in the Hebrew language and her contributions to the development of Jewish literature.
Another notable figure with the name Merriam was Merriam Modena, an Italian Jewish scholar, and physician who lived in the 16th century. He was renowned for his expertise in Hebrew and Jewish studies, as well as his contributions to the field of medicine.
In the 17th century, Merriam Browne was an English Puritan writer and religious leader. She played a significant role in the development of Puritan thought and the establishment of religious communities in New England.
During the 19th century, Merriam Webster, an American lexicographer and publisher, became famous for his work on the Webster's Dictionary. His efforts in compiling and publishing the dictionary helped standardize American English and made the name Merriam more widely recognized.
Lastly, Merriam C. Cooper, an American aviator, filmmaker, and writer, gained prominence in the early 20th century for his contributions to the film industry. He co-directed and co-produced the classic film "King Kong" in 1933, which became a landmark in the history of cinema.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Merriam throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich cultural heritage associated with this name.
People
Merriam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merriam 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
Merriam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merriam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 87 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merriam 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 3,939,705 US residents.
Is Merriam a common name?
We classify Merriam as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 346 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merriam most popular?
The single biggest year for Merriam was 1922, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merriam is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merriam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 363 people with the name Merriam, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,907 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 Merriam 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 Merriam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merriam leans strongly female. 357 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Merriam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merriam is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (17.6%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Merriam most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Merriam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.7% (213 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 Merriam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merriam a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merriam 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 Merriam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merriam 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 Merriam 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 Merriam?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Merriam on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.