Merrit
The Story of Merrit
As a girl name
Merrit first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a girl name in 1961, with 6 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1962: 7 births, good for #5,293 nationwide. About 26% of every Merrit on record arrived during the 1960s, its defining decade. Merrit last appeared in the published SSA data in 2024, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 98 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1960s to the 2020s.
As a boy name
American parents first put Merrit on the record books as a boy name in 1912, with 5 registered babies. Its peak popularity came in 1930, when 9 Merrits were born — ranking #2,781 that year. Merrit last appeared in the published SSA data in 2021, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 183 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Merrit
Phonetically similar names — useful when Merrit is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Merrit
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About the name Merrit
Merrit is a unisex baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1912 and has accumulated 183 births in the dataset. Merrit's peak popularity came in 1930 when it ranked #2,781. Use the chart and map above to compare Merrit's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1930 →
- Names of the 1930s →
- Names starting with "M" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
- Browse unisex names →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.