How Many People Are Named Melva?
An estimated 4,745 people in the United States have the first name Melva. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 69 years old, and Melva peaked in popularity in 1938 with 313 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Melva 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 Melva paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- With an average bearer age of 69, Melva is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1967.
Estimated Living Americans
4,745
About 1 in 72,235 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
99.8% confidence
Average Age
69
years old
Peak Year
1938
313 births
Total Registered
14,185
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Melva
Melva is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 14,185 total births registered, 99.8% were female.
Melva as a male name
Ranked #3,379 in 1941
6 male births in 1941
Peak: 1926 (8 births)
Melva as a female name
Ranked #16,816 in 2024
5 female births in 2024
Peak: 1938 (308 births)
Melva: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Melva span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 2,789 babies were registered. Melva has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Melva by Decade
How has Melva 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.
Melva by State
Birth registrations for Melva span all 40 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma. The lowest are in North Dakota, Hawaii, New Mexico. On average, about 247 Melvas were registered per state.
Melva + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Melva as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Melva
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Melva: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melva?
We estimate approximately 4,745 people named Melva 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 72,235 Americans share this first name.
Is Melva a common name?
Melva is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 14,185 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Melva most popular?
Melva reached peak popularity in 1938, when 313 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Melva is approximately 69 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Melva a female name?
Melva is predominantly female. 99.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Melva Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Melva Smith, Melva Johnson, Melva 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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