2000
#1,007
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 31,758
First available Census row
Per 100,000 11.77
Uncommon Last name
Merrill
Habitational surname derived from places in England and France, likely referring to a pleasant hill or wood.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 36,130 Americans carry the last name Merrill. That puts it at #1,093 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 10.54 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 9,487 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Merrill surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Merrill with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
36K
1 in 9,487
Census rank
#1,093
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
10.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
32K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 31,507 bearers of the surname Merrill in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 10.54 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1093rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Merrill, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Merrill
The surname Merrill originated in France and is derived from the Old French word "merle," meaning "blackbird." It was likely an occupational name given to someone who captured or worked with blackbirds, or it could also have been a nickname for someone with a dark complexion or dark hair.
The name Merrill first appeared in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was brought to England by Norman settlers after the Norman Conquest in 1066.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Merrill can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1166, where a person named Radulfus Merle is mentioned. The spelling variations in old records include Merle, Meryll, and Merrill.
Merrill was also a place name in Yorkshire, as evidenced by the village of Merrill near Wakefield. Some bearers of the surname may have taken their name from this location.
Notable individuals with the surname Merrill throughout history include:
1. John Merrill (c. 1515-1590), an English Protestant reformer and scholar who served as the Bishop of Bangor.
2. Thomas Merrill (1630-1695), an early settler in Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut.
3. David Merrill (1756-1835), an American Revolutionary War soldier and pioneer settler in Vermont.
4. Selah Merrill (1837-1909), an American archaeologist, scholar, and author who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Palestine.
5. Charles E. Merrill (1885-1956), co-founder of the investment firm Merrill Lynch, a prominent financial institution in the United States.
While the surname Merrill has French origins, it has become well-established in various parts of the world, particularly in Britain and North America, where many bearers of the name have made significant contributions to various fields.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merrill
Among Census respondents with the surname Merrill, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Merrill bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Merrill surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.3% · 27,506
- Black or African American4.0% · 1,256
- Two or more races3.7% · 1,162
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 1,078
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 276
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 229
Timeline
Historical Census data for Merrill
Merrill appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#1,073
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 32,620
+862 bearers (+2.7%)
Per 100,000 11.06
Rank movement Down 66 places
2020
#1,093
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 31,507
-1,113 bearers (-3.4%)
Per 100,000 10.54
Rank movement Down 20 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,007 | 31,758 | 11.77 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,073 | 32,620 | 11.06 | +862 bearers (+2.7%) | Down 66 places |
| 2020 | #1,093 | 31,507 | 10.54 | -1,113 bearers (-3.4%) | Down 20 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Merrill surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,073 | #1,093 | -1.9% |
| Count | 32,620 | 31,507 | -3.4% |
| Per 100K | 11.06 | 10.54 | -4.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Merrill bearers went from 32,620 to 31,507 (-3.4% change). The surname moved down 20 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,073 to #1,093.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Merrill
FAQ
Merrill surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Merrill?
Name Census estimates that about 36,130 living Americans carry the surname Merrill. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 9,487 residents.
How common is Merrill?
Merrill ranks #1,093 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 10.54 per 100,000 residents, which is about 11 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 31,507 people with the surname Merrill. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (36,130), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 10.54 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 10.54 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 11 of them to have the surname Merrill.
Has Merrill become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Merrill went from 32,620 recorded bearers to 31,507. That is a decrease of 1,113 (-3.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,073 to #1,093.
What does the Census say about the background of Merrill?
Among Census respondents with the surname Merrill, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.3%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Merrill in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.3% (27,506 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Merrill appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.3%), Black (4.0%), Two or More Races (3.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Merrill (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Merrill mean?
Habitational surname derived from places in England and France, likely referring to a pleasant hill or wood. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Merrill (10.54 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Merrill?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Merrill, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.