How Many People Are Named Melba?
An estimated 9,050 people in the United States have the first name Melba. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 73 years old, and Melba peaked in popularity in 1924 with 1,003 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Melba 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 Melba paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Melba is overwhelmingly female, 52 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- With an average bearer age of 73, Melba is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1963.
Estimated Living Americans
9,050
About 1 in 37,873 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
99.9% confidence
Average Age
73
years old
Peak Year
1924
1,003 births
Total Registered
34,918
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Melba
Melba is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 34,918 total births registered, 99.9% were female.
Melba as a male name
Ranked #3,043 in 1941
7 male births in 1941
Peak: 1921 (9 births)
Melba as a female name
Ranked #11,750 in 2024
8 female births in 2024
Peak: 1924 (998 births)
Melba: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Melba span from the 1890s to the 2020s, covering 14 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 9,124 babies were registered. Melba has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Melba by Decade
How has Melba 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.
Melba by State
Birth registrations for Melba span all 44 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Missouri, Arkansas. The lowest are in Wyoming, Rhode Island, Vermont. On average, about 704 Melbas were registered per state.
Melba + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Melba as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Melba
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Melba: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melba?
We estimate approximately 9,050 people named Melba 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 37,873 Americans share this first name.
Is Melba a common name?
Melba is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 34,918 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Melba most popular?
Melba reached peak popularity in 1924, when 1,003 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Melba is approximately 73 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Melba a female name?
Melba is predominantly female. 99.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Melba Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Melba Smith, Melba Johnson, Melba 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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