Merryl
A variant spelling of the feminine name Merrill, derived from the Old French for "blackbird".
Name Census estimates that about 165 living Americans carry the first name Merryl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merryl today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merryl births was 1955 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merryl. 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 Merryl is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Merryls were born before 1965.
People living today
165
~ 1 in 2,077,299 Americans
Peak year
1955
21 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1970 SSA rank
#7,655
Tracked since 1943
Census
Merryl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 360 people with the first name Merryl, which placed it at #26,062 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
#26,062
National first-name rank
People counted
360
360 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merryl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merryl is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.7%). 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 Merryl 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 Merryl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.5% · 297
- Black or African American7.2% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 7
- Two or more races1.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Merryl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merryl from the 1940s through to the 1970s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 131 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merryl 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 Merryl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Merryls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Merryl
The name Merryl is a relatively uncommon English given name that has its origins in the Old English word "merrie," which means "pleasant" or "cheerful." It is thought to have emerged as a name during the Middle Ages, though its exact origins are uncertain.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merryl can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of land and property in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears to have been used sporadically throughout the medieval period, though it never achieved widespread popularity.
During the Renaissance, the name Merryl gained some traction among the English gentry and nobility. One notable bearer of the name was Merryl Stafford, an English noblewoman who lived in the late 15th century and was known for her philanthropic work and support of the arts.
In the 17th century, the name Merryl appeared in several works of literature, including William Shakespeare's play "As You Like It," where a minor character is named Merryl. This literary reference likely contributed to the name's continued use, albeit in a limited capacity.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Merryl remained relatively uncommon, though it was occasionally used by families of various social classes. One notable bearer of the name was Merryl Whitehouse (1829-1901), an English artist and painter who gained recognition for her landscapes and portraits.
In the 20th century, the name Merryl experienced a slight resurgence, perhaps influenced by the growing popularity of names with unconventional spellings. One of the most well-known individuals with this name was Merryl Streep (born 1949), the acclaimed American actress known for her roles in films such as "Sophie's Choice" and "The Iron Lady."
While never achieving widespread popularity, the name Merryl has maintained a small but consistent presence throughout history, offering a unique and distinct option for parents seeking a name with a connection to the English language and a sense of joy and cheerfulness.
People
Merryl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merryl 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
Merryl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merryl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 165 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merryl 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 2,077,299 US residents.
Is Merryl a common name?
We classify Merryl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 250 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merryl most popular?
The single biggest year for Merryl was 1955, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merryl is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merryl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 360 people with the name Merryl, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,062 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 Merryl 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 Merryl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merryl leans strongly female. 339 people counted with this name were female (93.9%), compared with 22 male bearers (6.1%). 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 Merryl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merryl is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.7%). 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 Merryl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Merryl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.5% (297 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 Merryl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merryl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merryl 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 Merryl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merryl 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 Merryl 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 share the name Merryl?
Find out how many people have the name Merryl on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.