How Many People Are Named Melinda?
An estimated 114,066 people in the United States have the first name Melinda. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #479 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 53 years old, and Melinda peaked in popularity in 1970 with 4,236 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Melinda 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 Melinda paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Melinda is overwhelmingly female, 337 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Melinda has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1970s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
114,066
About 1 in 3,005 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.8% confidence
Average Age
53
years old
Peak Year
1970
4,236 births
Total Registered
136,061
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Melinda
Melinda is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 136,061 total births registered, 99.8% were female.
Melinda as a male name
Ranked #9,770 in 1994
5 male births in 1994
Peak: 1971 (19 births)
Melinda as a female name
Ranked #2,104 in 2024
91 female births in 2024
Peak: 1970 (4,225 births)
Melinda: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Melinda span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1970s, when 36,577 babies were registered. Melinda has declined significantly from its peak in the 1970s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Melinda by Decade
How has Melinda 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 | 129 | 0 | 129 | |
| 1890s | 157 | 0 | 157 | |
| 1900s | 137 | 0 | 137 | |
| 1910s | 199 | 0 | 199 | |
| 1920s | 202 | 0 | 202 | |
| 1930s | 567 | 0 | 567 | |
| 1940s | 5,423 | 0 | 5,423 | |
| 1950s | 21,531 | 22 | 21,509 | |
| 1960s | 36,377 | 82 | 36,295 | |
| 1970s | 36,577 | 139 | 36,438 | |
| 1980s | 22,301 | 89 | 22,212 | |
| 1990s | 7,932 | 5 | 7,927 | |
| 2000s | 2,495 | 0 | 2,495 | |
| 2010s | 1,571 | 0 | 1,571 | |
| 2020s | 463 | 0 | 463 | |
Melinda by State
Birth registrations for Melinda span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Ohio. The lowest are in Wyoming, Delaware, Rhode Island. On average, about 2,592 Melindas were registered per state.
Melinda + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Melinda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Melinda
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Melinda: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melinda?
We estimate approximately 114,066 people named Melinda 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 3,005 Americans share this first name.
Is Melinda a common name?
Melinda is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 136,061 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Melinda most popular?
Melinda reached peak popularity in 1970, when 4,236 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Melinda is approximately 53 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Melinda a female name?
Melinda is predominantly female. 99.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Melinda Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Melinda Smith, Melinda Johnson, Melinda 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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