Mert
A Turkish masculine name derived from the Arabic word "murt" meaning "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 495 living Americans carry the first name Mert. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mert today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mert births was 2018 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mert. 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 Mert with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
495
~ 1 in 692,433 Americans
Peak year
2018
32 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,339
Tracked since 1915
Census
Mert in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 778 people with the first name Mert, which placed it at #14,944 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
#14,944
National first-name rank
People counted
778
778 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mert
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mert is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Black (3.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.2%). 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 Mert 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 Mert at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 711
- Black or African American3.2% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 17
- Two or more races1.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Mert: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mert from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 217 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mert remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mert 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 Mert during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Merts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Mert, while Texas, California, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mert
The name Mert originates from the Turkish language and culture. It is a diminutive form of the name Mehmet, which is derived from the Arabic name Muhammad, meaning "praised" or "admirable." The earliest recorded use of the name Mert dates back to the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century.
Mert has been a popular name among Turkish families for centuries. It is believed to have gained widespread use during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the Conqueror, who ruled from 1444 to 1481 and conquered Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453.
In Turkish mythology, Mert is associated with virtues such as bravery, courage, and honor. The name is often given to boys with the hope that they will grow up to embody these qualities. Additionally, some scholars suggest that the name may be related to the ancient Persian word "mard," meaning "man" or "warrior."
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Mert can be found in the Ottoman court registers from the 16th century. During this time, several individuals with the name Mert held prominent positions within the Ottoman Empire.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Mert. One of the earliest was Mert Şah, a 14th-century Turkmen ruler who established the Artuqid dynasty in present-day Turkey and Syria. Another famous bearer of the name was Mert Çağlar (1905-1986), a Turkish diplomat and ambassador who served in several countries, including the United States.
In the arts and literature, Mert Efendi (1821-1898) was a renowned Ottoman calligrapher and poet, known for his mastery of the Diwani script. Mert Raşit (1873-1931) was a Turkish novelist and playwright who contributed significantly to the development of modern Turkish literature.
In the field of sports, Mert Günok (born 1987) is a Turkish professional basketball player who has represented the Turkish national team and played in several European leagues. Mert Müldür (born 1998) is a young Turkish footballer who currently plays as a defender for the Italian club Sassuolo.
People
Mert + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mert 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
Mert: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mert?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 495 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mert 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 692,433 US residents.
Is Mert a common name?
We classify Mert as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 529 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mert most popular?
The single biggest year for Mert was 2018, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mert is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mert in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 778 people with the name Mert, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,944 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 Mert 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 Mert?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mert leans strongly male. 731 people counted with this name were male (94.3%), compared with 44 female bearers (5.7%). 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 Mert?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mert is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Black (3.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.2%). 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 Mert most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (711 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 Mert in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mert a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mert in the SSA data are male. 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 Mert still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mert 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 Mert 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 the name Mert?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.