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First Name
45k
in the U.S.
since 1880

Last Name
1k
in the U.S.
in 2010

Merle

Origin: English
Meaning: Blackbird
Free Horoscope
Gender: Neutral
1,038^th All Time
20,408^th in 2010

Girls

Boys

First

Last

Similar Names

424 Merla (French)
318 Maryl (French)
250 Merryl (French)
240 Merel (Dutch)
<100 Myrla (French)
<100 Mirla (French)

Nicknames and Given Names for Merle

15k Merlin

How popular is the baby name Merle in the U.S.?

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Click Here to Show Chart Data

Year	Total Babies Born	Girls Born	Boys Born
1880	23	6	17
1881	19	6	13
1882	24	11	13
1883	38	15	23
1884	35	16	19
1885	42	16	26
1886	36	14	22
1887	36	12	24
1888	40	25	15
1889	77	42	35
1890	94	68	26
1891	80	46	34
1892	98	60	38
1893	88	61	27
1894	108	70	38
1895	137	91	46
1896	130	86	44
1897	104	70	34
1898	126	77	49
1899	130	88	42
1900	167	113	54
1901	143	91	52
1902	170	112	58
1903	181	112	69
1904	145	92	53
1905	169	110	59
1906	156	84	72
1907	194	112	82
1908	196	120	76
1909	196	120	76
1910	238	138	100
1911	266	151	115
1912	489	221	268
1913	563	232	331
1914	662	247	415
1915	948	353	595
1916	977	373	604
1917	1,060	359	701
1918	1,171	376	795
1919	1,090	370	720
1920	1,222	403	819
1921	1,276	442	834
1922	1,228	393	835
1923	1,185	410	775
1924	1,166	383	783
1925	1,239	404	835
1926	1,127	340	787
1927	1,120	311	809
1928	1,055	293	762
1929	954	224	730
1930	949	237	712
1931	873	213	660
1932	793	200	593
1933	756	183	573
1934	811	212	599
1935	791	270	521
1936	909	341	568
1937	820	302	518
1938	789	264	525
1939	804	275	529
1940	704	237	467
1941	707	225	482
1942	716	274	442
1943	679	231	448
1944	630	239	391
1945	579	206	373
1946	612	206	406
1947	595	203	392
1948	611	179	432
1949	506	153	353
1950	536	141	395
1951	504	136	368
1952	474	134	340
1953	448	123	325
1954	441	137	304
1955	405	114	291
1956	397	107	290
1957	343	89	254
1958	325	94	231
1959	304	75	229
1960	238	62	176
1961	234	58	176
1962	233	53	180
1963	234	47	187
1964	204	38	166
1965	184	24	160
1966	145	24	121
1967	110	19	91
1968	157	21	136
1969	128	17	111
1970	149	18	131
1971	167	10	157
1972	125	13	112
1973	105	12	93
1974	87	9	78
1975	81	8	73
1976	70	5	65
1977	80	0	80
1978	71	11	60
1979	87	7	80
1980	64	5	59
1981	80	13	67
1982	65	8	57
1983	65	0	65
1984	57	6	51
1985	48	0	48
1986	41	6	35
1987	49	6	43
1988	48	0	48
1989	41	13	28
1990	33	0	33
1991	37	5	32
1992	39	6	33
1993	40	6	34
1994	26	0	26
1995	41	6	35
1996	28	0	28
1997	27	0	27
1998	20	0	20
1999	22	0	22
2000	25	0	25
2001	29	0	29
2002	13	0	13
2003	27	5	22
2004	25	5	20
2005	18	0	18
2006	25	0	25
2007	16	0	16
2008	19	0	19
2009	22	0	22
2010	22	0	22
2011	18	0	18
2012	8	0	8
2013	15	0	15
2014	15	0	15
2015	19	0	19

Fun Facts about the name Merle

How many people with the first name Merle have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2015, the Social Security Administration has recorded 45,105 babies born with the first name Merle in the United States. That's more than enough people named Merle to occupy the territory of Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom) with an estimated population of 44,493 (as of July 1, 2012).
What year were 5 or more babies first named Merle? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1880 when it was given as a first name to 23 new born babies.
When was Merle first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Merle is Thursday, June 29th, 1871.
What year had the most people named Merle born? The highest recorded use of the first name Merle was in 1922 with a total of 835 babies.
Random Merle Factoid: According to the 1928 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Merle ranks 79^th in popularity as a baby boy's name in Maine. Imagine that, 20 babies in Maine have the same name as you in 1928.
Weird things about the name Merle: Your name in reverse order is Elrem. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Mleer. How do you pronounce that?
How many people have the last name Merle? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 1,302 people with the last name Merle.
How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Merle? Chances are, most people haven't met someone with Merle as their last name since less than 1 person in 227k people have that last name. If you know one, consider yourself lucky!

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Where is the name Merle popular?

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Popularity of Merle as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Merle as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in South Dakota, Iowa, or Nebraska.

Popularity of Merle as a last name

The map shows the absolute popularity of the name Merle as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in New York, Illinois, or Michigan.

Common last names for Merle

Smith
Johnson
Miller
Brown
Jones
Davis
Williams
Wilson
Anderson
Thompson
Moore
Clark
Baker
Taylor
Nelson
Walker
Martin
Young
Thomas
Allen

Common first names for Merle

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity		Merle	U.S.
█	White	80.34%	64.26%
█	African American	3.07%	11.96%
█	Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander	2.30%	4.85%
█	American Indian and Alaska Native	0.00%	0.69%
█	Two or More Ethnicities	0.00%	1.76%
█	Hispanic or Latino	12.98%	16.26%

Of Last Name Merle

People with the last name Merle are most frequently White or Hispanic or Latino

Entire United States

Meaning, Origin, Inspirations, and Associations

Have you been wondering what does the name "Merle" mean? The list below shows the origins of Merle as well as things modernly associated with the name Merle such as celebrities named Merle.

English

Origin and Meaning of Merle

The name "Merle" is of English origin, and it means "Blackbird". It's a name commonly given to both boys and girls.

Other Dictionary Sources

Common black European thrush
Synonyms: blackbird, european blackbird, merl, ousel, ouzel, and turdus merula

Wiktionary

From the taxonomic name; from Latin turdus (“thrush”) and merula (“blackbird”), giving rise to the French merle, from Proto-Indo-European *ams- (“black, blackbird”), see also Breton moualch (“ouzel”), Welsh mwyalch (“blackbird, thrush”), English ouzel

The Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula.
Any blackbird.

merle was also found in the following language(s): French and Italian

Notable Persons With the Name Merle

Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard is a country music, western (genre), outlaw country, and bakersfield sound musician. He plays Fender Telecaster. He was most active from 1963 to present. Merle was given the name Merle Ronald Haggard on April 6th, 1937 in Oildale, California, U.S. Merle is also known as Hag.

Popularity:

Merle Oberon

Merle Oberon was an actress. Her career lasted from 1928 to 1973. Merle was given the name Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson on February 19th, 1911 in Mumbai. She left this life on November 23rd, 1979.

Popularity:

Troy Donahue

Troy Donahue was an actor and singer. His most notable accomplishments were from 1957 to 2000. Troy was given the name Merle Johnson, Jr. on January 27th, 1936 in New York City, New York, U.S. He breathed his last breath on September 2nd, 2001.

Popularity:

Merle Dandridge

Merle Dandridge is an actress. She has had major accomplishments since 1994. Merle was born on May 31st, 1975 in Okinawa Prefecture.

Popularity:

Merle Dixon

Merle Dixon is a famous somebody.

Popularity:

Merle Travis

Merle Travis was a country music, western swing, blues, american folk music revival, gospel music, and americana (music) musician. He has had major accomplishments since 1936. Merle was given the name Merle Robert Travis on November 29th, 1917 in Rosewood, Kentucky US. He died on October 20th, 1983.

Popularity:

Mimsy Farmer

(actress)
Merle Watson

(musician)
Merle Hay

(military person)
Merle Greene Robertson

(noteworthy human)
Merle Hoffman

(famed somebody)
Merle Kodo Boyd

(leading somebody)
Merle Hapes

(football player)
Merle Soppela

(famous somebody)
Merle H. Phillips

(Northumberland County Commissioner)

Notable Persons With the Last Name Merle

Robert Merle

Robert Merle was a novelist. Robert was born on August 28th, 1908 in Tébessa. He died on March 27th, 2004.

Popularity:

Hugues Merle

Hugues Merle was a noteworthy individual in the field of painting. Hugues was born in 1823 in Saint Martin, France. He breathed his last breath in 1881.

Popularity:

Frigide Barjot

Frigide Barjot is an activist. Frigide was given the name Virginie Merle on September 25th, 1962 in Boulogne-Billancourt.

Popularity:

Matthew C. Le Merle

Matthew C. Le Merle is an investor, advisor, and investorand advisor. He holds the title Managing Partner of Fifth Era and Keiretsu Capital. Matthew was born on January 18th, 1962.

Popularity: