Merit vs Merle
American parents have registered 45,389 Merles since 1880, against 544 Merits. But in 2025 it was Merit that was commoner, 73 babies to 38.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Merit Merle
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 146 years in which either name was published, Merle for 135 years and Merit for 11 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.
Side by side
| Merit | Merle | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 544 | 45,389 |
| Most in one year | 73 | 1,275 |
| Babies in 2025 | 73 | 38 |
| Estimated living today | 510 | 11,000 |
| Median age today | 7 | 72 |
| Peak year | 2025 | 1925 |
| Best rank | 3,130th girls | 175th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 3,130th | 3,450th |
| First recorded | 1918 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 316 / 228 | 14,723 / 30,666 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Merles alive today are over 72; half the Merits are over 7. That is 65 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Merit and Merle.