First Name
10k
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
4k
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
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On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons Named Merry
  5. Notable Persons With the Last Name Merry
  6. Popularity by Year and Gender
  7. Regional Popularity
  8. Ethnicity Distribution
  9. Fun Facts
  10. What Merrys Have Visited This Page?
  11. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Merry

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Meaning and Origin

What does the name Merry mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Merry

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Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
adjective Mer"ry
Senses
  1. Laughingly gay; overflowing with good humor and good spirits; jovial; inclined to laughter or play; sportive."They drank, and were merry with him." [Gen. xliii. 34.]"I am never merry when I hear sweet music." [Shak.]
  2. Cheerful; joyous; not sad; happy."Is any merry? let him sing psalms." [Jas. v. 13.]
  3. Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight; as, a merry jest." Merrywind and weather." [Spenser.]
    synonyms: Cheerful; blithe; lively; sprightly; vivacious; gleeful; joyous; mirthful; jocund; sportive; hilarious.

Etymology: OE. merie mirie murie, merry, pleasant, AS. merge myrige, pleasant; cf. murge, adv.; prob. akin to OHG. murg, short, Goth. gamaúrgjan to shorten; cf. L. murcus a coward, who cuts off his thumb to escape military service; the Anglo-Saxon and English meanings coming from the idea of making the time seem short. Cf. Mirth

noun Mer"ry
A kind of wild red cherry.
Other Dictionary Sources
  1. Quick and energetic ("a merry chase")
    Synonyms: alert, brisk, lively, rattling, snappy, spanking, and zippy
  2. Offering fun and gaiety ("a merry evening")
    Synonyms: festal, festive, and gay
  3. Full of or showing high-spirited merriment ("have a merry Christmas" and "peals of merry laughter")
    Synonyms: gay, jocund, jolly, jovial, and mirthful
Wiktionary

From Middle English merie, mirie, myrie, murie, murȝe, from Old English meriġe, miriġe, myriġe, myreġe, myrġe (“pleasing, agreeable; pleasant, sweet, delightful; melodious”), from Proto-Germanic *murguz (“short, slow”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short”). Cognate with Scots mery, mirry (“merry”), Middle Dutch mergelijc (“pleasant, agreeable, joyful”), Old High German murg, murgi ("short, brief"; > German murk (“short, lazy”)), Norwegian dialectal myrjel (“small object, figurine”), Latin brevis (“short, small, narrow, shallow”), Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short”).

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Notable Persons Named Merry

Merry Clayton

Merry Clayton is a soul music and gospel music singing. Her most notable accomplishments were from 1962 to 2000. Merry was born on December 25th, 1948 in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

Popularity:
Merry Anders

Merry Anders was an actress and model. Her most notable accomplishments were from 1951 to 1971. Merry was given the name Mary Helen Anderson on May 22nd, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Merry is also known as Merry A. Benedict, Anderson, Mary Helen; Benedict, and Merry A.. She breathed her last breath on October 28th, 2012.

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Merry Pemberton

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Merry Wiesner-Hanks

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Merry Shannon

Merry Shannon is a lesbian romance and fantasy novelist. Merry was born on June 12th, 1979 in Sacramento, California, United States.

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Merry Graham

Merry was given the name Merry Carol Graham on August 24th, 1954 in Redding, California, U.S.

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Notable Persons With the Last Name Merry

Katharine Merry

Katharine Merry is an athlete. Katharine was born on September 21st, 1974 in Dunchurch, Warwickshire.

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Arlette Merry

Arlette Merry is an actress and actor. She was most prominent from 1932 to 1976. Arlette was born on March 18th, 1918 in Paris. Arlette is also known as Arlette Jacqueline Pinoteau.

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Robert Merry

Robert was born in 1755. He breathed his last breath in 1798.

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Sophie Merry

Sophie was born in 1982.

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Eleanor Charlotte neé Kynaston Merry

Eleanor was born on December 17th, 1873. She breathed her last breath on June 16th, 1956.

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Olivia Merry

Olivia was born on March 16th, 1992 in Christchurch.

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

Click Here to Show Chart Data
Year Total Babies Born Girls Born Boys Born
1898 5 5 0
1904 6 6 0
1905 5 5 0
1906 5 5 0
1908 6 6 0
1909 8 8 0
1910 6 6 0
1911 6 6 0
1912 16 16 0
1913 13 13 0
1914 17 17 0
1915 18 18 0
1916 22 22 0
1917 34 34 0
1918 29 29 0
1919 48 48 0
1920 61 61 0
1921 57 57 0
1922 54 54 0
1923 65 65 0
1924 48 48 0
1925 47 47 0
1926 44 44 0
1927 40 40 0
1928 45 45 0
1929 34 34 0
1930 40 40 0
1931 42 42 0
1932 52 52 0
1933 53 53 0
1934 67 67 0
1935 65 65 0
1936 55 55 0
1937 88 88 0
1938 95 95 0
1939 103 103 0
1940 124 124 0
1941 118 118 0
1942 200 200 0
1943 221 221 0
1944 203 203 0
1945 214 214 0
1946 276 276 0
1947 300 300 0
1948 307 307 0
1949 284 284 0
1950 292 292 0
1951 264 264 0
1952 323 323 0
1953 328 328 0
1954 355 355 0
1955 333 333 0
1956 298 298 0
1957 254 254 0
1958 240 240 0
1959 285 285 0
1960 274 274 0
1961 267 267 0
1962 219 219 0
1963 207 207 0
1964 221 221 0
1965 163 163 0
1966 111 111 0
1967 144 144 0
1968 99 99 0
1969 127 127 0
1970 125 125 0
1971 101 101 0
1972 69 69 0
1973 61 61 0
1974 73 73 0
1975 59 59 0
1976 47 47 0
1977 48 48 0
1978 62 62 0
1979 53 53 0
1980 45 45 0
1981 52 52 0
1982 47 47 0
1983 60 60 0
1984 42 42 0
1985 52 52 0
1986 28 28 0
1987 44 44 0
1988 34 34 0
1989 32 32 0
1990 34 34 0
1991 42 42 0
1992 22 22 0
1993 22 22 0
1994 42 42 0
1995 31 31 0
1996 32 32 0
1997 20 20 0
1998 21 21 0
1999 27 27 0
2000 24 24 0
2001 13 13 0
2002 17 17 0
2003 19 19 0
2004 30 30 0
2005 22 22 0
2006 20 20 0
2007 14 14 0
2008 23 23 0
2009 18 18 0
2010 22 22 0
2011 15 15 0
2012 18 18 0
2013 23 23 0
2014 22 22 0
2015 24 24 0
2016 32 32 0
2017 14 14 0
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Where is the name Merry popular?

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Popularity of Merry as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Merry as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in Michigan, Minnesota, or Iowa.

Popularity of Merry as a last name

The map shows the absolute popularity of the name Merry as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in New York, California, or Maine.

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Common last names for Merry

  • Williams
  • Jones
  • Lewis
  • Johnson

Common first names for Merry

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity Merry U.S.
█  White 92.85% 64.26%
█  African American 2.29% 11.96%
█  Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 0.67% 4.85%
█  American Indian and Alaska Native 0.35% 0.69%
█  Two or More Ethnicities 1.35% 1.76%
█  Hispanic or Latino 2.48% 16.26%

Of Last Name Merry

People with the last name Merry are most frequently White

Entire United States

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Fun Facts about the name Merry

  • How Popular is the name Merry? Merry is the 2,466th most popular name of all time. As a last name Merry was the 8,844th most popular name in 2010.
  • How many people with the first name Merry have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 10,247 babies born with the first name Merry in the United States. That's more than enough people named Merry to occupy the country of Tuvalu with an estimated population of 10,000 (as of July 1, 2012).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Merry? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1898 when it was given as a first name to 5 new born babies.
  • When was Merry first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Merry is Thursday, May 2nd, 1872.
  • What year had the most people named Merry born? The highest recorded use of the first name Merry was in 1954 with a total of 355 babies.
  • Random Merry Factoid: According to the 1948 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Merry is not a popular baby girl's name in Wisconsin. Imagine that, only 7 babies in Wisconsin have the same name as you in 1948.
  • Weird things about the name Merry: Your name in reverse order is Yrrem. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Mrery. How do you pronounce that?
  • How many people have the last name Merry? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 3,704 people with the last name Merry.
  • How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Merry? If you manage to meet 100,000 people in your life, chances are that 1 of them will have Merry as their last name.
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What Merrys Have Visited This Page?

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Name poster for Merry

Name poster for Merry(click to save the high quality version)

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All Name Lists

  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • 1913 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary via the Collaborative International Dictionary of English (License)
  • Other Dictionary Sources: WordNet 3.1 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University (License).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.