How Many People Are Named Melanie?
An estimated 236,409 people in the United States have the first name Melanie. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #220 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 38 years old, and Melanie peaked in popularity in 1972 with 6,319 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Melanie as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Melanie paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Melanie is overwhelmingly female, 614 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
236,409
About 1 in 1,450 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.8% confidence
Average Age
38
years old
Peak Year
1972
6,319 births
Total Registered
261,158
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Melanie
Melanie is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 261,158 total births registered, 99.8% were female.
Melanie as a male name
Ranked #13,588 in 2017
5 male births in 2017
Peak: 1972 (24 births)
Melanie as a female name
Ranked #122 in 2024
2,244 female births in 2024
Peak: 1972 (6,295 births)
Melanie: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Melanie span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1970s, when 53,495 babies were registered. Melanie has declined significantly from its peak in the 1970s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Melanie by Decade
How has Melanie tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 21 | 0 | 21 | |
| 1890s | 63 | 0 | 63 | |
| 1900s | 79 | 0 | 79 | |
| 1910s | 145 | 0 | 145 | |
| 1920s | 183 | 0 | 183 | |
| 1930s | 242 | 0 | 242 | |
| 1940s | 5,030 | 0 | 5,030 | |
| 1950s | 19,865 | 13 | 19,852 | |
| 1960s | 36,820 | 70 | 36,750 | |
| 1970s | 53,495 | 175 | 53,320 | |
| 1980s | 36,103 | 153 | 35,950 | |
| 1990s | 29,445 | 92 | 29,353 | |
| 2000s | 35,321 | 94 | 35,227 | |
| 2010s | 33,096 | 17 | 33,079 | |
| 2020s | 11,250 | 0 | 11,250 | |
Melanie by State
Birth registrations for Melanie span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Vermont, Wyoming, Alaska. On average, about 5,073 Melanies were registered per state.
Melanie + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Melanie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Melanie
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Melanie: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melanie?
We estimate approximately 236,409 people named Melanie are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 1,450 Americans share this first name.
Is Melanie a common name?
Melanie is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 261,158 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Melanie most popular?
Melanie reached peak popularity in 1972, when 6,319 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Melanie is approximately 38 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Melanie a female name?
Melanie is predominantly female. 99.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Melanie Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Melanie Smith, Melanie Johnson, Melanie Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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