Girls' name · peaked in 1932
Melba name popularity since 1925
24,728 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Melba. Half of them were born in 1939 or earlier, so the typical Melba is about 87 years old in 2026. Melba peaked in 1932 as the #207 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 24,728
- Named Melba, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1932
- #207 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #12,736 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 24,690 girls · 38 boys
- Most popular in
- Arkansas
- 6.28× its national share
Peak year is the year Melba made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Melba births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Melba peaked in 1932.
- Steepest fall: Between 1957 and 1962, Melba's share of baby girls fell by 50%, from 1 in 5,270 to 1 in 10,500.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Melba's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Melba.
Decade by decade
Babies named Melba in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 4,433 | 11 | – |
| 1930s | 7,951 | 20 | #225 |
| 1940s | 5,691 | 7 | #306 |
| 1950s | 3,792 | 0 | #446 |
| 1960s | 1,538 | 0 | #830 |
| 1970s | 736 | 0 | #1,493 |
| 1980s | 311 | 0 | #4,382 |
| 1990s | 129 | 0 | #8,516 |
| 2000s | 50 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 2010s | 28 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 2020–25 | 31 | 0 | #12,736 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
54.3% of babies named Melba from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Melba is most popular
The index compares Melba's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Melba.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 6.28× | 1,452 |
| Oklahoma | 4.45× | 1,304 |
| Alabama | 3.66× | 1,457 |
| Louisiana | 3.43× | 1,385 |
| Missouri | 2.86× | 1,404 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Melba's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Melba.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Melba (1932).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data