Mostly boys · peaked in 1918
Merle name popularity since 1925
28,667 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Merle (27.6% girls, 72.4% boys). Half of them were born in 1940 or earlier, so the typical Merle is about 86 years old in 2026. Merle peaked in 1918 as the #170 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 28,667
- Named Merle, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1918
- #170 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #3,485 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 72.4% boys
- 7,926 girls · 20,741 boys
- Most popular in
- South Dakota
- 7.19× its national share
Peak year is the year Merle made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Merle births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Merle peaked earlier, in 1918.
- Steepest fall: Between 1955 and 1960, Merle's share of baby boys fell by 41%, from 1 in 7,130 to 1 in 12,100.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Merle's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Merle.
Decade by decade
Babies named Merle in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 1,572 | 3,926 | – |
| 1930s | 2,497 | 5,800 | #226 |
| 1940s | 2,154 | 4,187 | #307 |
| 1950s | 1,151 | 3,031 | #431 |
| 1960s | 363 | 1,503 | #608 |
| 1970s | 94 | 929 | #963 |
| 1980s | 57 | 502 | #1,406 |
| 1990s | 23 | 292 | #2,279 |
| 2000s | 10 | 214 | #4,765 |
| 2010s | 0 | 180 | #4,653 |
| 2020–25 | 5 | 177 | #3,485 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
50.0% of babies named Merle from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Merle is most popular
The index compares Merle'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 Merle.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | 7.19× | 531 |
| Iowa | 5.22× | 1,536 |
| North Dakota | 4.59× | 335 |
| Kansas | 4.32× | 1,021 |
| Nebraska | 4.29× | 697 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Merle's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Merle.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Merle (1918).
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