How Many People Are Named Merrill?
An estimated 5,788 people in the United States have the first name Merrill. It is used for both genders, with 86.2% male. The average bearer is 64 years old, and Merrill peaked in popularity in 1926 with 321 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Merrill 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 Merrill paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
5,788
About 1 in 59,218 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
86.2% confidence
Average Age
64
years old
Peak Year
1926
321 births
Total Registered
15,043
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Merrill
Merrill is predominantly male (86.2%), though 2,069 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Merrill as a male name
Ranked #11,828 in 2024
6 male births in 2024
Peak: 1926 (305 births)
Merrill as a female name
Ranked #12,975 in 2024
7 female births in 2024
Peak: 1949 (52 births)
Merrill: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Merrill span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 2,959 babies were registered. Merrill has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Merrill by Decade
How has Merrill 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 | 111 | 111 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 201 | 201 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 333 | 317 | 16 | |
| 1910s | 1,974 | 1,880 | 94 | |
| 1920s | 2,959 | 2,820 | 139 | |
| 1930s | 2,447 | 2,298 | 149 | |
| 1940s | 2,267 | 1,941 | 326 | |
| 1950s | 1,865 | 1,446 | 419 | |
| 1960s | 1,027 | 774 | 253 | |
| 1970s | 595 | 468 | 127 | |
| 1980s | 485 | 318 | 167 | |
| 1990s | 338 | 192 | 146 | |
| 2000s | 188 | 84 | 104 | |
| 2010s | 187 | 91 | 96 | |
| 2020s | 66 | 33 | 33 | |
Merrill by State
Birth registrations for Merrill span all 38 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana. The lowest are in Tennessee, South Dakota, Arizona. On average, about 215 Merrills were registered per state.
Merrill + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Merrill as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Merrill
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Merrill: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Merrill?
We estimate approximately 5,788 people named Merrill 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 59,218 Americans share this first name.
Is Merrill a common name?
Merrill is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 15,043 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Merrill most popular?
Merrill reached peak popularity in 1926, when 321 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Merrill is approximately 64 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Merrill a male name?
Merrill is predominantly male. 86.2% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Merrill Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Merrill Smith, Merrill Johnson, Merrill 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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