Merrin
A feminine variant of Meredith, derived from a Celtic name meaning "great ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 248 living Americans carry the first name Merrin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merrin today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merrin births was 2020 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merrin. 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 Merrin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
248
~ 1 in 1,382,074 Americans
Peak year
2020
15 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,447
Tracked since 1981
Census
Merrin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 303 people with the first name Merrin, which placed it at #29,290 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
#29,290
National first-name rank
People counted
303
303 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merrin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merrin is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Merrin 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 Merrin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.2% · 234
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.2% · 28
- Two or more races6.3% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 11
- Black or African American3.3% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Merrin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merrin from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 83 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Merrin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merrin 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 Merrin 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 Merrin
The name Merrin is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic language. It is thought to be derived from the Gaelic word "muirnin," which means "beloved" or "darling." This name was particularly popular among the Celtic tribes that inhabited parts of modern-day Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merrin can be found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle documenting events in medieval Ireland. The text mentions a woman named Merrin who lived in the 8th century and was known for her exceptional beauty and grace.
In the 12th century, a Welsh poet named Meirion Goch wrote a series of love poems dedicated to a woman named Merrin. These poems provide insight into the cultural significance of the name during that time period and its association with love and affection.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Merrin. One of the earliest was Merrin ap Rhys (1165-1201), a Welsh prince and military leader who played a significant role in the conflicts between the Welsh and the Anglo-Norman forces during the late 12th century.
Another historical figure with the name Merrin was Merrin O'Reilly (1520-1587), an Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Reilly clan in County Cavan. He was known for his resistance against English colonization and his efforts to preserve Irish culture and traditions.
In the 17th century, Merrin Calvert (1623-1678) was a prominent English Quaker and one of the earliest settlers in the colony of Maryland. She played a crucial role in establishing the Quaker community in the region and advocating for religious tolerance.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Merrin Daly (1845-1927) was an Irish politician and member of the British Parliament. She was a vocal advocate for Irish Home Rule and worked tirelessly to promote the rights of Irish citizens within the United Kingdom.
Finally, in the 20th century, Merrin Dungey (born 1971) is an American actress best known for her roles in various television shows, including "Alias," "Big Little Lies," and "The Conners." She has received critical acclaim for her performances and continues to be a prominent figure in the entertainment industry.
People
Merrin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merrin 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
Merrin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merrin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 248 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merrin 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 1,382,074 US residents.
Is Merrin a common name?
We classify Merrin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 251 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merrin most popular?
The single biggest year for Merrin was 2020, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merrin is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merrin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 303 people with the name Merrin, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,290 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 Merrin 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 Merrin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merrin leans strongly female. 280 people counted with this name were female (90.6%), compared with 29 male bearers (9.4%). 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 Merrin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merrin is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Merrin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Merrin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.2% (234 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 Merrin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merrin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merrin 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 Merrin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merrin 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 Merrin 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 have Merrin as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Merrin, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.