Merrill Billups
There are approximately 1 people named Merrill Billups living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Merrill with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Billups. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
1
1 in 342,754,338
Named Merrill
5.8K
Alive today
Named Billups
7.3K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 5.8K
Rarity: Rare
Gender: Unisex
Peak year: 1926
Average age: 64
Top Census group: White (88.5%)
Estimated bearers: 7.3K
Rarity: Rare
Census rank: #5,289
Per 100K: 2.13
Top ancestry: Black (65.0%)
First name trend
Merrill: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Merrill. The peak year was 1926 with 321 births. The average person named Merrill today is 64 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merrill
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Merrill, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 88.5%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Merrill described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Merrill at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White88.5% · 5,641
- Black or African American5.3% · 340
- Two or more races2.2% · 142
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 89
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 72
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Billups surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Billups, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is Black at 65.0%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Billups described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Billups at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- Black or African American65.0% · 4,135
- White26.3% · 1,671
- Two or more races4.7% · 298
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 205
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 18
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Merrill has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0017% of the US population, based on 5,788 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Merrill right now.
The surname Billups appears at a rate of 2.13 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0021%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 1 people with the full name Merrill Billups. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people with the surname Billups
FAQ
Merrill Billups: questions and answers
How many people are named Merrill Billups?
We estimate approximately 1 people in the United States share the full name Merrill Billups. That works out to about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0017%) with the surname frequency (2.13 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Merrill Billups?
We classify Merrill Billups as "Very Rare". About 1 in 342,754,338 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Merrill a male or female name?
Merrill is predominantly unisex. Out of 15,043 total SSA registrations, 86.2% were male and 13.8% were female. See the full Merrill profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How common is the name Merrill Billups?
See how common the name Merrill Billups is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.