Merritt

Did you know?

A few things about Merritt you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Merritt

Merritt Wever

American actress

Choose Merritt and your child shares a first name with Merritt Wever, an American actress. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Merritt, like who?” Merritt Wever's Wikipedia article is available in 31 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Merritt Wever on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Thomas Attila Lewis from Pittsfield, MA, USA, CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 4,008 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Merritt, 401 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Merritt would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryMerritt has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Merritts, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearMerritt is at its all-time high right now: #703 in 2025.
• 📈Then vs nowMerritt is 16× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 62,500 baby girls; in 2025, about 1 in 4,008.
• 🚀TrendMerritt has climbed 821 places in the US rankings over the last five years and now sits at #703. Fast risers like this often keep climbing, so expect to hear it more.
• 📍Where it's lovedMerritt is most popular in Nebraska, where it ranks #78, followed by Tennessee (#191) and Mississippi (#270). It's in the top 1,000 in 22 states.
• ⚖️Boy or girlMerritt is given to both boys and girls: 77% of the 518 babies named Merritt in 2025 were girls. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.

About the name Merritt

Merritt is a gender-neutral name of English, Irish and Latin origin. It has 7 letters and 2 syllables, starting with M and ending in “-itt”. US birth records list Merritt for girls from 1919 to 2025, in 67 of those 107 years. Its best year was 2025, when it ranked #703 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #703, with 401 babies. Of the 518 US babies named Merritt in 2025, 77% were girls and 23% were boys.

Origin:English namesIrish namesLatin names