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Merle

Gender
Girl
Say it
MURL
Origin
Latin
UK rank, 2025
#5,990 for girls
US rank, 2025
#3,449 for boys

Merle is a girls' name of Latin origin, meaning “blackbird”. In 2025 it ranked 5,990th for girls in the UK (3 babies) and 3,449th for boys in the US (33 babies).

What does Merle mean?

Latin: from French merle 'blackbird', Latin merula

“blackbird”

Borne by country singer Merle Haggard and the film actress Merle Oberon.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Merle a girl's or a boy's name?

Merle is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 3 girls in the UK and 5 girls and 33 boys in the US.

How popular is Merle in the UK?

Rank in 2025
5,990th among girls
Babies in 2025
3 about 1 in 93,000 girls
Five-year trend
Too rare to call too few babies to tell
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 3 girls in the UK were named Merle, making it the 5,990th most popular name for girls. Its busiest year was 2002, with 8 girls.

2025 had more girls named Merle than any year since 2015.

Half of all the girls named Merle in the UK since 1996 were born between 2001 and 2010. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier girls aren't counted.

Among girls in 2025, it was 5,925th in England and Wales.

1996Busiest: 8 in 20022025
Merle in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
20253#5,990
20240–
20230–
20220–
20210–
20200–
20190–
20180–
20172#7,588
20160–
20154#4,951
20140–
20134#4,953
20120–
20113#6,007
20104#4,931
20096#3,603
20081#7,383
20074#4,494
20061#6,685
20050–
20044#3,916
20030–
20028#2,231
20015#2,928
20005#2,907
19990–
19983#4,026
19974#3,345
19963#3,935

How popular is Merle in the US?

Rank in 2025
3,449th among boys
Babies in 2025
33 about 1 in 52,000 boys
Five-year trend
Steady up 22% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 33 boys in the US were named Merle, making it the 3,449th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 3,342nd. Its busiest year was 1925, with 836 boys. 5 girls were also named Merle in 2025 (14,937th for girls).

Half of all the boys named Merle in the US since 1880 were born between 1922 and 1947, the years shaded on the chart below.

Girls were 39% of the babies named Merle in the US in 1883, and 13% in 2025.

1880Busiest: 836 in 19252025
Merle in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
202533#3,449
202422#4,567
202340#3,053
202227#3,992
202122#4,490
202033#3,342
201922#4,476
201823#4,350
201720#4,742
201614#6,048
201521#4,543
201415#5,729
201316#5,400
20129#8,152
201118#4,981
201022#4,365
200922#4,427
200819#4,897
200717#5,207
200626#3,780
200518#4,626
200421#4,124
200322#3,833
200213#5,388
200130#2,983
200026#3,213
199923#3,372
199820#3,593
199728#2,746
199628#2,674
199535#2,248
199426#2,761
199334#2,252
199233#2,248
199132#2,221
199033#2,165
198928#2,353
198848#1,520
198743#1,610
198635#1,758
198549#1,388
198451#1,293
198365#1,107
198257#1,228
198167#1,111
198059#1,187
197980#991
197860#1,134
197780#954
197665#1,030
197573#961
197479#914
197393#825
1972111#752
1971157#656
1970131#717
1969111#742
1968135#649
196792#763
1966121#672
1965159#605
1964166#607
1963187#578
1962180#582
1961176#595
1960176#586
1959227#523
1958232#505
1957256#487
1956292#438
1955289#430
1954307#408
1953325#387
1952340#365
1951368#359
1950395#338
1949354#357
1948432#321
1947392#344
1946406#319
1945373#307
1944391#305
1943448#290
1942442#288
1941482#254
1940467#254
1939529#225
1938525#228
1937519#228
1936568#209
1935521#226
1934599#207
1933573#204
1932593#210
1931662#198
1930711#196
1929731#188
1928764#186
1927808#178
1926787#180
1925836#175
1924782#184
1923775#180
1922835#172
1921833#173
1920819#171
1919721#182
1918795#170
1917701#178
1916604#190
1915595#186
1914415#201
1913331#202
1912268#206
1911115#236
1910100#235
190976#254
190876#244
190782#224
190672#229
190559#254
190453#260
190369#216
190258#242
190152#237
190054#281
189942#257
189849#252
189734#316
189644#277
189546#262
189438#285
189327#341
189238#298
189134#277
189026#345
188935#284
188815#505
188724#333
188622#369
188526#332
188419#416
188323#346
188213#514
188113#487
188017#425

Names like Merle

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Florence, Rose, Alice, Beatrice, Grace, Mabel, Charlotte, Rosie, Lottie, Millie, Lucy, Faye

Names related to Merle

Meral, Meryl, Meriel

More Latin names

Oliver, Olivia, Leo, Roman, Aurora, Emily, Luna, Nora, Emilia, Max, Nova, Julian, Clara, Anthony, Austin, Felix

Every Latin name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Merle: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/merle, updated 20 October 2026.