Meaning not yet researched.
Merlyn: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 7 in 2025. Its best rank was #1,160 in 1936.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #1,160 in 1936; #12,740 in 2025. About 54% of babies named Merlyn in 2025 were girls.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#12,740 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1936, at #1,160.
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.
Merlyn: US girls and boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 7 girls in 2025. Peak: #1,160 in 1936 · most girls in one year: 41 (1925).
In 2025, 7 US girls were named Merlyn, making it the 12,740th most common girls’ name of the year, up 4,145 places from #16,885 in 2024. That is 2 more than the 5 girls named Merlyn in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #1,160, reached in 1936. The most girls given the name in a single year was 41, in 1925. For comparison, it was #9,325 in 2015 and #2,740 in 1950.
In 2025, 6 US boys were named Merlyn, making it the 11,534th most common boys’ name of the year. Its best rank for boys was #509, reached in 1931. The most boys given the name in a single year was 137, in 1930. For comparison, it was unranked (under five boys) in 2015 and #1,099 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Merlyn in 113 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1908 with 5 babies. In all, 5,045 US babies have been given the name, 32% of them girls and 68% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1930s, with 1,392 babies named Merlyn.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 93 US girls were named Merlyn; the busiest of those years was 2023, with 12. In 2025 that was about 1 in 229,610 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Merlin (15,968 babies since 1880) and Merlene (2,379 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 Merlyn 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | #12,740 | 6 | #11,534 |
| 2024 | 5 | #16,885 | — | — |
| 2023 | 12 | #8,808 | — | — |
| 2022 | 11 | #9,452 | 7 | #10,496 |
| 2021 | 10 | #10,070 | 6 | #11,676 |
| 2020 | 12 | #8,772 | 5 | #13,396 |
| 2019 | 10 | #10,240 | 6 | #11,669 |
| 2018 | 9 | #11,157 | — | — |
| 2017 | 9 | #11,317 | 6 | #11,709 |
| 2016 | 8 | #12,511 | 6 | #11,665 |
| 2015 | 12 | #9,325 | — | — |
| 2014 | 9 | #11,637 | 5 | #13,381 |
| 2013 | 5 | #18,378 | 6 | #11,692 |
| 2012 | 8 | #13,045 | 5 | #13,555 |
| 2011 | 15 | #8,071 | — | — |
| 2010 | 15 | #8,170 | — | — |
| 2009 | 16 | #7,950 | 8 | #9,582 |
| 2008 | 23 | #6,077 | — | — |
| 2007 | 18 | #7,308 | — | — |
| 2006 | 15 | #8,116 | — | — |
| 2005 | 16 | #7,382 | — | — |
| 2004 | 16 | #7,284 | 7 | #9,607 |
| 2003 | 19 | #6,232 | — | — |
| 2002 | 10 | #10,002 | — | — |
| 2001 | 10 | #9,855 | — | — |
| 2000 | 13 | #7,881 | 10 | #6,672 |
| 1999 | 10 | #9,255 | 9 | #6,913 |
| 1998 | 17 | #5,984 | — | — |
| 1997 | 14 | #6,708 | 5 | #10,266 |
| 1996 | 6 | #12,896 | — | — |
| 1995 | 12 | #7,368 | — | — |
| 1994 | 14 | #6,541 | — | — |
| 1993 | 14 | #6,496 | 6 | #8,330 |
| 1992 | 12 | #7,352 | — | — |
| 1991 | 7 | #11,060 | 7 | #7,022 |
| 1990 | 7 | #10,967 | 5 | #9,040 |
| 1989 | 9 | #8,496 | — | — |
| 1988 | 13 | #6,142 | 5 | #8,101 |
| 1987 | 5 | #12,537 | 6 | #6,667 |
| 1986 | 6 | #10,402 | — | — |
| 1985 | 8 | #8,038 | — | — |
| 1984 | 9 | #7,190 | — | — |
| 1981 | 8 | #7,874 | — | — |
| 1980 | — | — | 12 | #3,547 |
| 1979 | 6 | #9,733 | 8 | #4,690 |
| 1978 | — | — | 6 | #5,539 |
| 1977 | 5 | #10,654 | 5 | #6,502 |
| 1976 | 5 | #10,287 | — | — |
| 1975 | — | — | 6 | #5,227 |
| 1974 | — | — | 8 | #4,062 |
| 1973 | 6 | #8,057 | — | — |
| 1971 | 5 | #9,144 | 7 | #4,231 |
| 1970 | 6 | #7,653 | 8 | #3,726 |
| 1969 | — | — | 12 | #2,638 |
| 1968 | 7 | #6,031 | 11 | #2,683 |
| 1967 | 5 | #7,490 | 6 | #3,833 |
| 1966 | 5 | #7,266 | 10 | #2,734 |
| 1965 | 8 | #5,145 | 7 | #3,449 |
| 1964 | 5 | #7,453 | 15 | #2,170 |
| 1963 | 8 | #5,158 | 16 | #2,091 |
| 1962 | 10 | #4,445 | 18 | #1,938 |
| 1961 | 7 | #5,669 | 17 | #2,048 |
| 1960 | 11 | #4,086 | 16 | #2,094 |
| 1959 | 11 | #3,962 | 24 | #1,651 |
| 1958 | 11 | #3,866 | 20 | #1,820 |
| 1957 | 17 | #2,897 | 23 | #1,704 |
| 1956 | 9 | #4,364 | 16 | #2,064 |
| 1955 | 17 | #2,799 | 28 | #1,476 |
| 1954 | 17 | #2,763 | 32 | #1,354 |
| 1953 | 14 | #3,049 | 32 | #1,349 |
| 1952 | 13 | #3,141 | 40 | #1,179 |
| 1951 | 15 | #2,772 | 44 | #1,091 |
| 1950 | 15 | #2,740 | 42 | #1,099 |
| 1949 | 22 | #2,113 | 37 | #1,176 |
| 1948 | 21 | #2,166 | 48 | #1,017 |
| 1947 | 23 | #2,074 | 38 | #1,184 |
| 1946 | 17 | #2,371 | 46 | #1,008 |
| 1945 | 23 | #1,781 | 57 | #835 |
| 1944 | 27 | #1,594 | 57 | #838 |
| 1943 | 25 | #1,741 | 70 | #784 |
| 1942 | 27 | #1,617 | 75 | #744 |
| 1941 | 25 | #1,594 | 80 | #688 |
| 1940 | 25 | #1,574 | 89 | #634 |
| 1939 | 29 | #1,394 | 81 | #662 |
| 1938 | 23 | #1,629 | 110 | #558 |
| 1937 | 29 | #1,380 | 103 | #569 |
| 1936 | 38 | #1,160 | 103 | #569 |
| 1935 | 36 | #1,193 | 105 | #564 |
| 1934 | 33 | #1,252 | 114 | #553 |
| 1933 | 33 | #1,256 | 105 | #561 |
| 1932 | 28 | #1,444 | 109 | #569 |
| 1931 | 26 | #1,487 | 128 | #509 |
| 1930 | 22 | #1,737 | 137 | #510 |
| 1929 | 25 | #1,586 | 93 | #637 |
| 1928 | 35 | #1,305 | 97 | #626 |
| 1927 | 40 | #1,250 | 114 | #580 |
| 1926 | 31 | #1,474 | 87 | #682 |
| 1925 | 41 | #1,219 | 79 | #735 |
| 1924 | 25 | #1,750 | 73 | #791 |
| 1923 | 36 | #1,320 | 74 | #766 |
| 1922 | 21 | #1,942 | 72 | #793 |
| 1921 | 25 | #1,755 | 57 | #934 |
| 1920 | 15 | #2,435 | 66 | #832 |
| 1919 | 10 | #3,150 | 51 | #946 |
| 1918 | 14 | #2,467 | 53 | #914 |
| 1917 | 10 | #3,007 | 54 | #868 |
| 1916 | 15 | #2,200 | 32 | #1,169 |
| 1915 | 14 | #2,213 | 39 | #1,031 |
| 1914 | 9 | #2,563 | 20 | #1,377 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,718 | 17 | #1,298 |
| 1912 | 8 | #2,289 | 15 | #1,251 |
| 1911 | — | — | 5 | #1,920 |
| 1908 | — | — | 5 | #1,532 |
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).