Meaning not yet researched.
Merl: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 0 in 2025. Its best rank was #609 in 1907.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Fewer than five US boys were given it in 2025. It peaked at #609 in 1907. No US babies were recorded with the name Merl in 2025.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
Given to fewer than five US boys in 2025; it peaked at #609 in 1907.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Merl: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 0 boys in 2025. Peak: #609 in 1907 · most boys in one year: 83 (1922).
Fewer than five US boys were named Merl in 2025, so it does not appear in that year’s SSA list for boys. Its best rank for boys was #609, reached in 1907. The most boys given the name in a single year was 83, in 1922. For comparison, it was unranked (under five boys) in 2015 and #1,248 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Merl in 89 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1886 with 7 babies. In all, 2,852 US babies have been given the name, 9.7% of them girls and 90% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 791 babies named Merl.
In none of the 10 years from 2016 to 2025 were five or more US boys named Merl.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Merle (45,389 babies since 1880), Myrle (3,108 babies since 1880) and Myrl (3,092 babies since 1880).
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Merl in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | — | — | 5 | #7,445 |
| 1985 | — | — | 5 | #7,224 |
| 1984 | — | — | 5 | #6,987 |
| 1977 | — | — | 8 | #4,446 |
| 1976 | — | — | 6 | #5,374 |
| 1975 | — | — | 7 | #4,633 |
| 1974 | — | — | 10 | #3,487 |
| 1973 | — | — | 10 | #3,362 |
| 1972 | — | — | 13 | #2,767 |
| 1971 | — | — | 7 | #4,230 |
| 1970 | — | — | 8 | #3,725 |
| 1969 | — | — | 14 | #2,375 |
| 1968 | — | — | 10 | #2,848 |
| 1967 | — | — | 13 | #2,312 |
| 1966 | 5 | #7,264 | 6 | #3,794 |
| 1965 | — | — | 15 | #2,141 |
| 1964 | — | — | 16 | #2,084 |
| 1963 | — | — | 24 | #1,646 |
| 1962 | — | — | 12 | #2,465 |
| 1961 | — | — | 21 | #1,806 |
| 1960 | — | — | 14 | #2,278 |
| 1959 | — | — | 18 | #1,952 |
| 1958 | — | — | 26 | #1,550 |
| 1957 | — | — | 22 | #1,741 |
| 1956 | — | — | 25 | #1,596 |
| 1955 | — | — | 24 | #1,596 |
| 1954 | — | — | 16 | #2,020 |
| 1953 | — | — | 31 | #1,369 |
| 1952 | — | — | 37 | #1,220 |
| 1951 | 6 | #5,229 | 32 | #1,323 |
| 1950 | — | — | 34 | #1,248 |
| 1949 | — | — | 30 | #1,334 |
| 1948 | — | — | 42 | #1,101 |
| 1947 | — | — | 37 | #1,204 |
| 1946 | — | — | 25 | #1,428 |
| 1945 | — | — | 29 | #1,241 |
| 1944 | — | — | 30 | #1,227 |
| 1943 | — | — | 39 | #1,098 |
| 1942 | 6 | #4,479 | 37 | #1,134 |
| 1941 | 5 | #4,855 | 29 | #1,246 |
| 1940 | 7 | #3,740 | 33 | #1,174 |
| 1939 | 5 | #4,720 | 27 | #1,293 |
| 1938 | — | — | 42 | #988 |
| 1937 | 5 | #4,711 | 44 | #953 |
| 1936 | 8 | #3,295 | 43 | #944 |
| 1935 | 8 | #3,346 | 31 | #1,219 |
| 1934 | — | — | 46 | #935 |
| 1933 | 6 | #4,066 | 33 | #1,154 |
| 1932 | — | — | 48 | #946 |
| 1931 | — | — | 53 | #885 |
| 1930 | 9 | #3,244 | 44 | #1,044 |
| 1929 | 8 | #3,592 | 60 | #851 |
| 1928 | 5 | #5,200 | 61 | #852 |
| 1927 | 8 | #3,769 | 65 | #837 |
| 1926 | 15 | #2,433 | 70 | #781 |
| 1925 | 9 | #3,567 | 70 | #791 |
| 1924 | 13 | #2,766 | 66 | #846 |
| 1923 | 10 | #3,285 | 70 | #799 |
| 1922 | 9 | #3,575 | 83 | #720 |
| 1921 | 6 | #4,897 | 74 | #786 |
| 1920 | 15 | #2,433 | 74 | #773 |
| 1919 | 9 | #3,381 | 82 | #688 |
| 1918 | 11 | #2,956 | 79 | #719 |
| 1917 | 11 | #2,814 | 69 | #757 |
| 1916 | 6 | #4,242 | 74 | #694 |
| 1915 | 10 | #2,837 | 57 | #809 |
| 1914 | 11 | #2,215 | 52 | #731 |
| 1913 | 5 | #3,531 | 38 | #773 |
| 1912 | 12 | #1,690 | 31 | #791 |
| 1911 | — | — | 9 | #1,254 |
| 1910 | — | — | 12 | #971 |
| 1909 | — | — | 7 | #1,232 |
| 1908 | 7 | #1,791 | 11 | #863 |
| 1907 | — | — | 18 | #609 |
| 1906 | 5 | #2,132 | 7 | #1,077 |
| 1904 | — | — | 7 | #1,032 |
| 1903 | 7 | #1,529 | 7 | #983 |
| 1902 | — | — | 5 | #1,254 |
| 1901 | — | — | 7 | #914 |
| 1899 | — | — | 10 | #690 |
| 1898 | 8 | #1,344 | 5 | #1,244 |
| 1897 | — | — | 8 | #835 |
| 1896 | — | — | 9 | #807 |
| 1895 | 8 | #1,264 | 5 | #1,199 |
| 1893 | — | — | 6 | #990 |
| 1892 | — | — | 6 | #1,037 |
| 1891 | — | — | 9 | #681 |
| 1887 | — | — | 8 | #721 |
| 1886 | — | — | 7 | #814 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).