Myrl
A feminine name of debated origin, possibly from the French word for "blackberry".
Name Census estimates that about 438 living Americans carry the first name Myrl. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 59.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Myrl today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Myrl births was 1916 (128 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Myrl. 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
- • Myrl was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • Myrl sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • The typical person named Myrl is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Myrls were born before 1956.
People living today
438
~ 1 in 782,544 Americans
Peak year
1916
128 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1972 SSA rank
#5,512
Tracked since 1887
Census
Myrl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 659 people with the first name Myrl, which placed it at #16,934 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
#16,934
National first-name rank
People counted
659
659 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Myrl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Myrl is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Black (6.1%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Myrl 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 Myrl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.1% · 587
- Black or African American6.1% · 40
- Two or more races2.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Myrl
Myrl is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,092 total registrations, 1,261 (40.8%) were male and 1,831 (59.2%) were female.
Myrl as a male name
- Ranked #5,512 in 1972
- 5 male births in 1972
- Peak: 1916 (44 births)
Myrl as a female name
- Ranked #6,605 in 1956
- 5 female births in 1956
- Peak: 1916 (84 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Myrl on both sides of the split. Of the 660 people counted with this name, 364 were male (55.2%) and 296 were female (44.8%).
Popularity
Myrl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Myrl from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 903 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
Myrl 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 Myrl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Myrls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Myrl, while West Virginia, Utah, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Myrl
The name Myrl is an English name that originated in the late 19th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "myrige," which means "pleasant" or "delightful." The name gained popularity in the United States during the early 20th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Myrl can be found in the 1880 United States Census, where a few individuals were listed with this name. However, it was not until the early 1900s that the name became more widespread.
One notable individual named Myrl was Myrl Goodwin (1901-1978), an American baseball player who played for the Boston Red Sox in the 1920s. He was a left-handed pitcher and had a brief but successful career in the major leagues.
Another prominent person with the name Myrl was Myrl Painter (1912-1994), an American artist known for her landscape paintings and portraits. Her works were exhibited in various galleries throughout the United States, and she received numerous awards and accolades for her artistic achievements.
In the field of literature, Myrl Hoag (1908-1987) was an American writer and journalist who authored several books and articles. One of her notable works was "The Secret Life of Houses," published in 1958, which explored the histories and personalities of various homes.
Moving to the world of education, Myrl Coulter (1913-2003) was an influential educator and administrator who served as the president of Western Washington University from 1965 to 1975. She played a significant role in expanding the university's academic programs and facilities during her tenure.
Lastly, Myrl Weinberg (1929-2006) was an American business executive and philanthropist. He served as the CEO of the National Health Laboratories from 1962 to 1994 and was instrumental in the company's growth and success. Additionally, he was actively involved in various charitable organizations and donated generously to educational institutions and medical research.
People
Myrl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Myrl 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
Myrl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Myrl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 438 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Myrl 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 782,544 US residents.
Is Myrl a common name?
We classify Myrl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,092 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Myrl most popular?
The single biggest year for Myrl was 1916, when 128 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Myrl is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Myrl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 659 people with the name Myrl, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,934 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 Myrl 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 Myrl?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Myrl on both sides of the split. Of the 660 people counted with this name, 364 were male (55.2%) and 296 were female (44.8%). 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 Myrl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Myrl is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Black (6.1%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Myrl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Myrl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (587 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 Myrl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Myrl a female name?
Yes, 59.2% of people registered as Myrl 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 Myrl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Myrl 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 Myrl 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 Americans are named Myrl?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.