Merideth
A variant of Meredith, derived from the Welsh name Maredudd meaning "sea-protector".
Name Census estimates that about 1,548 living Americans carry the first name Merideth. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merideth today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merideth births was 1972 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merideth. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 221,418 Americans
Peak year
1972
61 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1927 SSA rank
#4,042
Tracked since 1916
Census
Merideth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,800 people with the first name Merideth, which placed it at #8,129 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
#8,129
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,800 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merideth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merideth is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Merideth 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 Merideth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.2% · 1,623
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 58
- Two or more races2.8% · 50
- Black or African American2.4% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Merideth
Out of the 1,761 babies given the name Merideth 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.
Merideth as a male name
- Ranked #4,042 in 1927
- 6 male births in 1927
- Peak: 1927 (6 births)
Merideth as a female name
- Ranked #14,572 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1972 (61 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merideth leans strongly female. 1,757 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 44 male bearers (2.4%).
Popularity
Merideth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merideth from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 494 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merideth 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 Merideth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Merideths live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Merideth, while Mississippi, Massachusetts, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Merideth
The name Merideth is a variant of the name Meredith, which has its origins in the Welsh language. The name is derived from the Welsh words "mor" meaning "sea" and "rydddh" meaning "free" or "liberated." Together, these words form the meaning "great lord" or "sea lord."
The name Merideth is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages in Wales, a period when many Welsh names were first recorded in written form. It is thought that the name was initially used by the Welsh nobility and those with connections to the sea or coastal regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merideth can be found in the Welsh genealogical records of the 13th century, where it appears as a variant spelling of Meredith. During this time, the name was closely associated with the influential Welsh families and their lineages.
In the 14th century, the name Merideth gained popularity among the English nobility, as they began adopting Welsh names and traditions. This was particularly true in the Welsh Marches, a region along the border between England and Wales, where cultural exchange and intermarriage were common.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Merideth. One of the earliest recorded figures was Merideth ap Gruffydd (c. 1300-1368), a Welsh landowner and military leader who played a significant role in the Wars of Welsh Independence against the English.
Another prominent figure was Merideth Hanmer (1543-1604), an English lawyer and member of parliament who served as a justice of the King's Bench during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 17th century, Merideth Hughes (1636-1720) was a Welsh clergyman and academic who served as the Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, and was renowned for his expertise in theology and ancient languages.
During the 18th century, Merideth Jones (1701-1786) was a notable Welsh poet and writer who contributed to the preservation of Welsh literature and culture.
In the 19th century, Merideth Williams (1818-1892) was a Welsh-American businessman and philanthropist who made significant contributions to the development of the coal mining industry in Pennsylvania.
People
Merideth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merideth 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
Merideth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merideth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,548 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merideth 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 221,418 US residents.
Is Merideth a common name?
We classify Merideth as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,761 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merideth most popular?
The single biggest year for Merideth was 1972, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merideth is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merideth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,800 people with the name Merideth, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,129 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 Merideth 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 Merideth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merideth leans strongly female. 1,757 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 44 male bearers (2.4%). 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 Merideth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merideth is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Merideth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Merideth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.2% (1,623 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 Merideth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merideth a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Merideth 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 Merideth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merideth 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 Merideth 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 Merideth?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.