Myrtie
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "perfumed" or "balsam tree".
Name Census estimates that about 284 living Americans carry the first name Myrtie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Myrtie today is around 86 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Myrtie births was 1917 (114 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Myrtie. 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 Myrtie is about 86 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Myrties were born before 1950.
People living today
284
~ 1 in 1,206,881 Americans
Peak year
1917
114 babies that year
Average age
86
years old
1969 SSA rank
#7,198
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Myrtie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Myrtie from the 1880s through to the 1960s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 839 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Myrtie 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 Myrtie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Myrties live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Myrtie, while Oklahoma, Illinois, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 83 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Myrtie
The name Myrtie is derived from the ancient Greek word "myrtia," which means myrtle, a flowering plant. This plant was highly revered in ancient Greek culture and was associated with the goddesses Aphrodite and Venus, symbolizing love, beauty, and fertility.
The earliest recorded use of the name Myrtie can be traced back to the late 19th century in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was a diminutive form of the name Myrtle, which itself was derived from the Greek word "myrtia."
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Myrtie was Myrtie West, an American author and poet born in 1878 in Indiana. She wrote several books of poetry, including "The Old-Fashioned Garden" and "The Little Red House on the Hill."
Another notable Myrtie in history was Myrtie Evelyn Bates (1900-1988), an American journalist and writer. She worked as a journalist for various publications and was known for her coverage of the civil rights movement in the United States.
In the early 20th century, Myrtie Ella West (1885-1969) was a notable American educator and author. She wrote several books on education and child development, including "The Art of Mothercraft" and "The Child's Mind and How to Study It."
Myrtie Josephine Gaines (1891-1975) was an African American educator and civil rights activist. She founded the Myrtie Gaines Nursery School in New Orleans, which was one of the first nursery schools for African American children in the city.
Myrtie Hazard, a fictional character from the novel "The Guardian Angel" by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., published in 1867, was a significant figure in American literature. The character's name was likely inspired by the Greek origin of the name and its association with beauty and love.
While the name Myrtie was relatively popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it has since fallen out of widespread use. However, its historical significance and connection to ancient Greek culture and mythology make it a unique and intriguing name with a rich heritage.
People
Myrtie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Myrtie 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
Myrtie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Myrtie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 284 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Myrtie 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 1,206,881 US residents.
Is Myrtie a common name?
We classify Myrtie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,401 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Myrtie most popular?
The single biggest year for Myrtie was 1917, when 114 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Myrtie is about 86 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Myrtie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Myrtie 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.
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.