Names › Unisex › M › Merit
Unisex name

Merit

/ˈmɛɹət/ · 58% girls, 42% boys · 73 born in 2025

Merit has been given to about 544 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 2025, which makes it a current name.

Meaning—
Origin—
Syllables2
Pronunciation/ˈmɛɹət/
Nicknames—
Living in the US≈ 517
Median age today8 years

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Merit per year · SSA, ONS, NRS, CSO, INSEE and SSB
18802025
United StatesScotlandFranceeach scaled to its own peak
  • Peak year2025 · 73
  • Born in 202573
  • All time544

How popular is Merit?

Its best year was 2025, when 73 babies were given the name, ranking 3154th. The typical living American called Merit is about 8 years old today. It is relatively most common in Texas, where it accounts for 0.00% of births.

Names that sound like Merit

Phonetic similarity, 0–1
  1. Merritt0.88
  2. Kermit0.75
  3. Merrill0.70
  4. Merrick0.70
  5. Merlin0.65
  6. Emmit0.66
  7. Mervin0.65
  8. Merry0.64

Middle names for Merit

Ranked by flow score
  1. Merit Anne0.81
  2. Merit Eve0.80
  3. Merit Elizabeth0.78
  4. Merit Catherine0.78
  5. Merit Josephine0.78
  6. Merit Rose0.77

Sibling names for Merit

Same era, comparable use, no clash
  1. Hazielbrother · 0.90
  2. Bryerbrother · 0.90
  3. Alarasister · 0.89
  4. Jasielbrother · 0.89
  5. Seraphinasister · 0.88
  6. Emilianasister · 0.88

Where Merit is strongest

Share of 2025 births by state
  1. Texas0.00%
  2. California0.00%

With a common surname

Flow score against the most-used American surnames · try your own
  1. Merit Anderson0.77
  2. Merit Reyes0.72
  3. Merit Nguyen0.72
  4. Merit Lee0.72
  5. Merit Hall0.72
  6. Merit Green0.72

How to read these numbers

Every score on this page is explained
  1. Phonetic similarity0–1
  2. Middle-name flow0–1
  3. Sibling fit0–1
  4. Living population estimatemethod
  5. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Sources for Merit

Every figure on this page is public record
  1. United States1880–2025
  2. Scotland1974–2020
  3. France1900–2025
  4. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Merit across America

Share of 2025 births in each state. Darker means more common.
ME
WA
VT
NH
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
ID
SD
IA
IL
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
NV
WY
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
CA
UT
CO
KS
AR
TN
NC
DC
AZ
NM
OK
LA
MS
AL
SC
AK
TX
GA
FL
HI
raremost common

Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.