Meryl
A feminine name of English origin meaning "brilliant sea" or "shining sea".
Name Census estimates that about 3,547 living Americans carry the first name Meryl. It is a predominantly female name (92.3% of registrations). The average person named Meryl today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meryl births was 1956 (156 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meryl. 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 Meryl with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.5K
~ 1 in 96,632 Americans
Peak year
1956
156 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1967 SSA rank
#4,354
Tracked since 1892
Census
Meryl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,469 people with the first name Meryl, which placed it at #4,256 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
#4,256
National first-name rank
People counted
4.5K
4,469 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meryl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meryl is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%) and Black (4.6%). 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 Meryl 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 Meryl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.6% · 3,871
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 218
- Black or African American4.6% · 204
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 90
- Two or more races1.6% · 70
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 16
Gender
Gender distribution for Meryl
Meryl leans heavily female at 92.3% of total registrations, but 431 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Meryl as a male name
- Ranked #4,354 in 1967
- 5 male births in 1967
- Peak: 1921 (18 births)
Meryl as a female name
- Ranked #5,532 in 2024
- 23 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1956 (156 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meryl leans strongly female. 4,230 people counted with this name were female (94.5%), compared with 245 male bearers (5.5%).
Popularity
Meryl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meryl from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,327 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Meryl 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 Meryl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meryls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Meryl, while Texas, Ohio, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 204 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Meryl
The name Meryl is a relatively modern name that emerged in the 20th century. It is believed to be a variant spelling of the name Muriel, which is derived from the Greek word "myrrha," meaning "myrrh," a fragrant resin used in perfumes and incense.
The name Meryl gained popularity in the United States and other English-speaking countries during the mid-20th century. While its exact origins are unclear, it is speculated that the name may have been influenced by the popularity of the American actress Meryl Streep, who rose to fame in the late 1970s and 1980s.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Meryl can be found in the 1930s. Meryl Frost, an American author and journalist, was born in 1922 and is known for her work on the history of Hawaii.
Another notable figure with the name Meryl is Meryl Goldsmith, a South African-born actress and singer who gained recognition in the 1960s and 1970s for her performances in various musicals and plays.
In the field of sports, Meryl Davis is an American ice dancer who, along with her partner Charlie White, won the gold medal in the ice dance event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Meryl Tankard is an Australian choreographer and dancer who has made significant contributions to the world of contemporary dance. She was born in 1959 and has created numerous acclaimed works for companies around the globe.
The name Meryl has also been used in literature, with Meryl Streep's character in the novel and film "The Bridges of Madison County" being a notable example.
While the name Meryl may have originated as a variant spelling of Muriel, it has since established its own identity and continues to be used as a given name, particularly in English-speaking countries.
People
Meryl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meryl 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
Meryl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meryl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,547 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meryl 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 96,632 US residents.
Is Meryl a common name?
We classify Meryl as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,585 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meryl most popular?
The single biggest year for Meryl was 1956, when 156 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meryl is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Meryl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,469 people with the name Meryl, or 1.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,256 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 Meryl 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 Meryl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meryl leans strongly female. 4,230 people counted with this name were female (94.5%), compared with 245 male bearers (5.5%). 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 Meryl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meryl is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%) and Black (4.6%). 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 Meryl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Meryl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (3,871 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 Meryl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meryl a female name?
Yes, 92.3% of people registered as Meryl 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 Meryl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meryl 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 Meryl 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 called Meryl?
You can see how many people have the name Meryl on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.