2000
#701
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 44,626
First available Census row
Per 100,000 16.54
Uncommon Last name
Merritt
A locational surname derived from a place name meaning "boundary gate" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 50,292 Americans carry the last name Merritt. That puts it at #772 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 14.67 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 6,815 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Merritt 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 Merritt with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
50K
1 in 6,815
Census rank
#772
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
14.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
44K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 43,857 bearers of the surname Merritt in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 14.67 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 772nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Merritt, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Merritt
The surname Merritt is of English origin, traced back to the medieval period. It is a habitational name derived from the Old English words "mere" meaning a lake or pool, and "hyht" meaning a spit of land or lookout point. Originally, it denoted someone who lived by a spit of land projecting into a lake or pool.
The name is found in various spellings in early historical records, such as Merriot, Meriet, and Meriott. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Willelmus de Meritot, recorded in the Hundredorum Rolls of Norfolk in 1273.
The Merritt surname is also associated with several place names in England, including Merriott in Somerset, Meriot in Wiltshire, and Meriet in Devon. These locations likely contributed to the spread of the name across different regions.
In the 14th century, the name appeared in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire, where a Thomas Meriet was recorded in 1327. The Merritt family was also well-established in Kent, with records showing a John Meryott in the Kent Feet of Fines in 1509.
Notable individuals with the surname Merritt throughout history include:
1. Hugh Merritt (c. 1550-1621), an English navigator and explorer who voyaged to the West Indies and South America.
2. Thomas Merritt (1661-1738), an English Quaker and early settler in Pennsylvania, who founded the town of Merrittown (now Douglassville).
3. Wesley Merritt (1836-1910), a cavalry commander in the American Civil War and later a general in the United States Army.
4. Anna Lea Merritt (1844-1930), an American novelist and writer known for her historical romances set in medieval England.
5. Charles Merritt (1875-1956), a Canadian businessman and co-founder of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.
The Merritt surname has a rich history spanning centuries, originating from the English landscape and eventually spreading across different regions and even continents, carried by notable individuals in various fields.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Merritt
Among Census respondents with the surname Merritt, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Merritt 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 Merritt surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.4% · 31,751
- Black or African American18.9% · 8,297
- Two or more races4.3% · 1,892
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 1,372
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 289
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 256
Timeline
Historical Census data for Merritt
Merritt 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
#756
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 45,594
+968 bearers (+2.2%)
Per 100,000 15.46
Rank movement Down 55 places
2020
#772
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 43,857
-1,737 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 14.67
Rank movement Down 16 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #701 | 44,626 | 16.54 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #756 | 45,594 | 15.46 | +968 bearers (+2.2%) | Down 55 places |
| 2020 | #772 | 43,857 | 14.67 | -1,737 bearers (-3.8%) | Down 16 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 Merritt 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 | #756 | #772 | -2.1% |
| Count | 45,594 | 43,857 | -3.8% |
| Per 100K | 15.46 | 14.67 | -5.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Merritt bearers went from 45,594 to 43,857 (-3.8% change). The surname moved down 16 positions in the national ranking, going from #756 to #772.
FAQ
Merritt surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Merritt?
Name Census estimates that about 50,292 living Americans carry the surname Merritt. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 6,815 residents.
How common is Merritt?
Merritt ranks #772 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 14.67 per 100,000 residents, which is about 15 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 43,857 people with the surname Merritt. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (50,292), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 14.67 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 14.67 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 15 of them to have the surname Merritt.
Has Merritt become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Merritt went from 45,594 recorded bearers to 43,857. That is a decrease of 1,737 (-3.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #756 to #772.
What does the Census say about the background of Merritt?
Among Census respondents with the surname Merritt, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Merritt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.4% (31,751 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Merritt appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (72.4%), Black (18.9%), Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Merritt (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 Merritt mean?
A locational surname derived from a place name meaning "boundary gate" in Old English. 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 Merritt (14.67 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 have the last name Merritt?
You can see how many Americans have the surname Merritt on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.