Merline
A feminine name of French origin meaning "by the sea shore".
Name Census estimates that about 370 living Americans carry the first name Merline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Merline today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Merline births was 1924 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Merline. 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
370
~ 1 in 926,363 Americans
Peak year
1924
37 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2007 SSA rank
#13,494
Tracked since 1910
Census
Merline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,060 people with the first name Merline, which placed it at #11,914 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
#11,914
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,060 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merline is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are White (17.0%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Merline 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 Merline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.0% · 753
- White17.0% · 180
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 46
- Two or more races1.9% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 7
Popularity
Merline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Merline from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 273 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Merline 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 Merline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Merlines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Merline, while Oklahoma, Georgia, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Merline
The name Merline has its origins in the Old French form of the name Merlin, which itself is derived from the Welsh name Myrddin. This Welsh name is believed to have its roots in the Brittonic word "mori" meaning "sea" and the element "dunn" meaning "hill" or "fort." Together, these elements suggest the name may have originally referred to someone living near a sea fort or coastal fortification.
The earliest known references to the name Merlin are found in the legendary accounts of the wizard Merlin from Arthurian mythology. This powerful sorcerer and prophet is a central figure in many of the medieval tales about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. While the specific origins of this legendary figure are unclear, the name became widely associated with magic and mysticism throughout medieval Europe.
One of the earliest documented uses of the name Merline can be found in the 12th century French poem "Perceval, or the Story of the Grail" by Chrétien de Troyes. In this work, Merline is presented as a variant spelling of the wizard Merlin's name. It is likely that this feminine form of the name emerged during this period as a way to distinguish female characters associated with the Arthurian legends.
Throughout history, the name Merline has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Merline de Trie (c. 1200-1270), a French noblewoman and Lady of Monceaux. Another early figure was Merline de Salins (c. 1230-1301), a French abbess and religious leader.
In more recent centuries, the name Merline has been used by several writers and artists. Merline Britt (1904-1999) was an American author and poet, known for her works exploring the American South. Merline Oberon (1911-1979) was a British actress and stars of films such as "The Private Life of Henry VIII" and "Wuthering Heights."
One of the most famous bearers of the name was Merline Favard (1920-2007), a French Resistance fighter during World War II. She played a crucial role in the French Resistance movement and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for her bravery and service.
While not a common name today, Merline has a rich history rooted in medieval legends, literature, and the stories of remarkable individuals throughout the centuries. Its unique sound and connection to the mystical figure of Merlin have made it a distinctive and intriguing name choice.
People
Merline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Merline 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
Merline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 370 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Merline 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 926,363 US residents.
Is Merline a common name?
We classify Merline as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,079 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Merline most popular?
The single biggest year for Merline was 1924, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Merline is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Merline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,060 people with the name Merline, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,914 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 Merline 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 Merline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Merline appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,053 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Merline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Merline is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are White (17.0%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Merline most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Merline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.0% (753 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 Merline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Merline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Merline 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 Merline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Merline 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 Merline 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 Merline?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.