Merida
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "of merit".
Name Census estimates that about 1,363 living Americans carry the first name Merida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merida today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merida births was 2017 (116 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merida. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Merida with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Merida is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 251,471 Americans
Peak year
2017
116 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
1880 SSA rank
#1,013
Tracked since 1880
Census
Merida in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,578 people with the first name Merida, which placed it at #8,990 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
#8,990
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,578 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merida
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merida is Hispanic at 57.0%. The next largest groups are White (35.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Merida 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 Merida at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino57.0% · 899
- White35.4% · 559
- Two or more races3.2% · 50
- Black or African American2.3% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Merida
Out of the 1,506 babies given the name Merida since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Merida as a male name
- Ranked #1,013 in 1880
- 5 male births in 1880
- Peak: 1880 (5 births)
Merida as a female name
- Ranked #2,471 in 2024
- 73 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (116 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merida leans strongly female. 1,546 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 26 male bearers (1.7%).
Popularity
Merida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merida from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 719 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Merida remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merida 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 Merida during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meridas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Merida, while Virginia, Utah, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Merida
The name Merida is of Spanish origin, derived from the ancient Roman city of Emerita Augusta, now known as Mérida, Spain. The city was founded in 25 BC by Emperor Augustus as a settlement for retired Roman soldiers. The name Emerita comes from the Latin word "emeritus," meaning "veteran."
In its earliest form, the name was spelled "Emerida" or "Emerita," referring to the city's origins as a settlement for retired Roman soldiers. Over time, the spelling evolved to the modern-day "Merida" in Spanish. The name gained popularity in Spain and later spread to other Spanish-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merida appears in a 12th-century Spanish manuscript, where it is mentioned as the name of a noblewoman from the region of Extremadura, near the city of Mérida. This early historical reference suggests that the name was in use during the medieval period in Spain.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Merida, including:
1. Merida de Navarra (c. 1138-1187), Queen of Navarre during the 12th century, known for her involvement in the civil war between her husband and son over the succession of the Navarrese throne.
2. Merida de la Cruz (1789-1854), a Venezuelan revolutionary and soldier who fought alongside Simón Bolívar during the Venezuelan War of Independence.
3. Merida Grubb (1827-1909), an American educator and activist who played a crucial role in establishing the first kindergarten in the United States, based on the principles of Friedrich Froebel.
4. Merida Quesada (1897-1979), a Cuban writer and journalist known for her contributions to the literary magazine "Revista de Avance" and her efforts in promoting the work of female writers in Cuba.
5. Merida Mateo (1935-2021), a Spanish actress renowned for her performances in numerous Spanish films and TV series, including her memorable role in the film "Viridiana" directed by Luis Buñuel.
The name Merida has maintained its presence and popularity throughout the centuries, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries, where it continues to be a beloved and culturally significant name.
People
Merida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merida 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
Merida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,363 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merida 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 251,471 US residents.
Is Merida a common name?
We classify Merida as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,506 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merida most popular?
The single biggest year for Merida was 2017, when 116 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merida is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merida in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,578 people with the name Merida, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,990 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 Merida 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 Merida?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merida leans strongly female. 1,546 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 26 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Merida?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merida is Hispanic at 57.0%. The next largest groups are White (35.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Merida most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Merida in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (899 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 Merida in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merida a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Merida 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 Merida still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merida 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 Merida 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 Americans are named Merida?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.