Melannie
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "melas," meaning dark or black.
Name Census estimates that about 1,682 living Americans carry the first name Melannie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melannie today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melannie births was 2006 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melannie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 203,778 Americans
Peak year
2006
82 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,531
Tracked since 1962
Census
Melannie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,317 people with the first name Melannie, which placed it at #10,216 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,216
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,317 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
67.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melannie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melannie is Hispanic at 67.8%. The next largest groups are White (21.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Melannie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Melannie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino67.8% · 893
- White21.2% · 279
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 60
- Black or African American3.9% · 52
- Two or more races2.1% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 6
Popularity
Melannie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melannie from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 625 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melannie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Melannie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melannies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Melannie, while New Jersey, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 110 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Melannie
Melannie is a feminine given name with roots in the Greek language. Its origins can be traced back to ancient times, deriving from the Greek word "melania," which means "black" or "dark." This connection likely stems from the dark complexion or hair color associated with the name's early bearers.
The name found its way into various ancient texts and historical records, including mentions in Greek mythology and literature. One notable example is the figure of Melanippe, a character from Greek mythology who was a daughter of the river god Nilus.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Melannie can be found in Byzantine Empire records from the 5th century AD. During this era, the name was primarily used among Greek-speaking communities within the empire's boundaries.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Melannie. One of the earliest examples is Saint Melania the Elder (c. 350-410), a Roman Christian saint and Desert Mother known for her asceticism and charitable works.
Another prominent figure was Melania the Younger (c. 383-439), a Roman nun and Desert Mother who inherited a vast fortune and dedicated her life to philanthropy and establishing monasteries.
In the 11th century, Melanippe Tzamantourou (c. 1030-1090) was a Byzantine poet and scholar known for her contributions to the literary and intellectual circles of Constantinople.
During the Renaissance period, Melania Felice (c. 1510-1570) was an Italian poet and writer who gained recognition for her work in both Latin and Italian languages.
Melanie Calvat (1555-1619), a French noblewoman and scholar, also made her mark in history as a prominent figure in the literary and intellectual circles of her time.
While these examples are not exhaustive, they provide a glimpse into the historical significance and diverse backgrounds of individuals who have carried the name Melannie throughout the centuries.
People
Melannie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melannie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Melannie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melannie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,682 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melannie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 203,778 US residents.
Is Melannie a common name?
We classify Melannie as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,727 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melannie most popular?
The single biggest year for Melannie was 2006, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melannie is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melannie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,317 people with the name Melannie, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,216 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Melannie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Melannie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melannie appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,314 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Melannie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melannie is Hispanic at 67.8%. The next largest groups are White (21.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Melannie most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Melannie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.8% (893 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Melannie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melannie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melannie in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Melannie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melannie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Melannie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Melannie?
See how many people share the name Melannie on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.