Merek
Of Germanic origin, meaning "famous", "renowned", or "boundary brook".
Name Census estimates that about 364 living Americans carry the first name Merek. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Merek today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merek births was 2014 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merek. 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
364
~ 1 in 941,633 Americans
Peak year
2014
27 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,661
Tracked since 1987
Census
Merek in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 380 people with the first name Merek, which placed it at #25,078 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
#25,078
National first-name rank
People counted
380
380 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merek
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merek is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.9%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). 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 Merek 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 Merek at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.4% · 313
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 34
- Two or more races6.6% · 25
- Black or African American1.3% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
Popularity
Merek: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merek from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 166 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merek 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 Merek during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Merek
The name Merek has its origins in the ancient Aramaic language, which was spoken in the Middle East during the time of the Persian Empire, around the 6th century BCE. The name is derived from the Aramaic word "merek," which means "bitter" or "sour." It's believed to have been used as a descriptive name, possibly referring to someone with a stern or serious demeanor.
In the early centuries of the Common Era, the name Merek appeared in various Aramaic texts and inscriptions found in regions like Syria, Iraq, and parts of modern-day Turkey. It was a relatively uncommon name but was used among certain communities in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merek can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism compiled between the 3rd and 5th centuries CE. The Talmud mentions a figure named Merek ben Yaakov, who was a Jewish scholar and teacher during the 2nd century CE.
During the Middle Ages, the name Merek was occasionally used among various Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa. One notable figure was Merek ibn Ezra, a Jewish philosopher and poet who lived in Spain during the 12th century (around 1092-1167 CE).
In more recent history, the name Merek has been relatively uncommon, but there have been a few individuals who bore this name. One example is Merek Greenberg (1922-2010), an American film and television actor who appeared in various roles throughout the mid-20th century.
Another notable figure was Merek Lipinski (1898-1986), a Polish-born American sculptor and artist who was known for his works depicting religious themes and historical figures.
Merek Putranto (1961-2020) was an Indonesian politician and economist who served as the Minister of Trade in Indonesia from 2019 until his passing in 2020.
In the world of sports, Merek Hazen (born 1985) is an American professional basketball player who has played in various leagues around the world, including in Europe and Asia.
Finally, Merek Blackmon (born 1991) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays in the NBA G League, the official minor league organization of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
While not a particularly common name throughout history, Merek has been used in various cultures and contexts, often carrying the connotation of bitterness or seriousness, reflecting its Aramaic roots.
People
Merek + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merek 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
Merek: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merek?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 364 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merek 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 941,633 US residents.
Is Merek a common name?
We classify Merek as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merek most popular?
The single biggest year for Merek was 2014, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merek 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 Merek in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 380 people with the name Merek, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,078 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 Merek 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 Merek?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merek leans strongly male. 375 people counted with this name were male (96.6%), compared with 13 female bearers (3.4%). 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 Merek?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merek is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.9%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). 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 Merek most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Merek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.4% (313 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 Merek in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merek a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merek in the SSA data are male. 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 Merek still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merek 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 Merek 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 common is the name Merek?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.