Melyna
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "blue".
Name Census estimates that about 262 living Americans carry the first name Melyna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melyna today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melyna births was 2007 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melyna. 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
262
~ 1 in 1,308,223 Americans
Peak year
2007
17 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,624
Tracked since 1990
Census
Melyna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 245 people with the first name Melyna, which placed it at #33,672 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
#33,672
National first-name rank
People counted
245
245 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
68.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melyna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melyna is Hispanic at 68.6%. The next largest groups are White (19.6%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Melyna 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 Melyna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino68.6% · 168
- White19.6% · 48
- Two or more races4.1% · 10
- Black or African American3.7% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Melyna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melyna from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 103 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Melyna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melyna 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 Melyna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melynas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Melyna
The name Melyna finds its roots in ancient Greek, originating from the word "melaina," which means "black" or "dark-hued." This name gained prominence around the 5th century BCE in the Greek city-states, particularly in Athens and Sparta.
Melyna was a name given to daughters born with dark hair or complexions, as it was seen as a symbol of beauty and strength during that era. In Greek mythology, Melyna was also the name of a nymph associated with the goddess Artemis, representing the wilderness and the hunt.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Melyna can be found in Herodotus' "Histories," where he mentions a woman named Melyna who played a pivotal role in the Persian Wars. Unfortunately, little is known about her beyond this reference.
In the 3rd century BCE, a notable figure named Melyna of Ephesus emerged as a renowned philosopher and mathematician. She is credited with contributing to the development of geometry and was highly regarded by her contemporaries.
During the Byzantine era, around the 6th century CE, a woman named Melyna of Constantinople gained recognition as a skilled physician and herbalist. Her medical treatises and knowledge of herbal remedies were widely circulated and studied.
In the 12th century, a French noblewoman named Melyna de Montfort was known for her involvement in the Crusades, accompanying her husband on multiple campaigns to the Holy Land.
Fast-forwarding to the 16th century, Melyna Venezia was an influential Venetian artist and portraitist, whose works were highly sought after by the aristocracy of the time.
While the name Melyna has maintained a steady presence throughout history, its usage has been relatively uncommon compared to other Greek names. However, its deep-rooted origins and association with strength, beauty, and intellect have contributed to its enduring appeal across various cultures and time periods.
People
Melyna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melyna 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
Melyna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melyna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 262 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melyna 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 1,308,223 US residents.
Is Melyna a common name?
We classify Melyna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 265 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melyna most popular?
The single biggest year for Melyna was 2007, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melyna is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melyna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 245 people with the name Melyna, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,672 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 Melyna 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 Melyna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melyna appears almost entirely female. Of the 239 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 Melyna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melyna is Hispanic at 68.6%. The next largest groups are White (19.6%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Melyna most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Melyna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.6% (168 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 Melyna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melyna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melyna 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 Melyna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melyna 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 Melyna 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 named Melyna?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.