How Many People Are Named Merit?
Complete statistics for the name Merit in the United States — including rarity score, gender breakdown, age distribution, historical popularity, and state data.
Data last updated: 2025 SSA records
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Normalized logarithmic scale (0–100)
male
Population Share
How Many People Have the Name Merit in the US?
Based on Social Security Administration birth records and age-adjusted survival modeling, approximately 471 people in the United States currently share the name Merit. That works out to roughly 1 in every 700,637 Americans, placing it in the Very Rare category among all names tracked in US records. For context on where this falls on the full spectrum, see the name rarity guide.
Is Merit a Common or Rare Name?
Merit is classified as Very Rare when scored against the entire US population. Our rarity scale runs from Very Common (top names shared by millions) through Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare. Understanding where a name sits helps parents gauge uniqueness when choosing a baby name, genealogists narrow down records, and curious individuals settle debates about their own identity.
What Does the Name Merit Mean?
The meaning, language of origin, cultural and religious background for Merit are covered in full on the Merit name meaning & origin page. For a broader look at thousands of names, browse the name meaning directory.
Gender Breakdown: Is Merit Male or Female?
Of all recorded bearers of Merit in SSA data, approximately 44% are male and 56% are female. Merit is a gender-neutral name, split roughly evenly between male and female bearers. See our guide to gender-neutral names for more on how naming norms evolve.
When Was Merit Most Popular?
The name Merit reached peak popularity in 2023, with 26 babies registered that year. Our article on 2025 baby name trends explores these forces in detail.
Where Is Merit Most Common in the US?
The state-by-state breakdown above shows estimated bearer counts for Merit across all 50 states. Highly populous states like California, Texas, and New York naturally show higher counts for almost every name simply due to population size.
How Is This Data Calculated?
All figures on this page are statistical estimates, not exact government headcounts. The underlying data comes from the SSA National Baby Names dataset. Full methodology is explained on the methodology page.
How many people are named Merit?
Approximately 471 people in the United States share the name Merit, based on SSA birth records and age-adjusted survival modeling.
Is Merit a rare name?
Merit is classified as Very Rare in the United States. Approximately 1 in every 700,637 Americans has this name.
What does the name Merit mean?
The meaning and origin of Merit is displayed in the Name Meaning and Origin section at the top of this page. Browse the name meaning directory at https://howmanyofme.site/name-meaning/ for more names.
Is Merit more male or female?
Based on SSA records, 44% of people named Merit are male and 56% are female. The predicted gender is Female.
When was Merit most popular?
The name Merit reached its peak in 2023, with 26 registrations that year.
Are these statistics exact?
No. All figures are statistical estimates based on SSA birth records and age-adjusted modeling. Exact real-time name counts are not publicly available. See the methodology page at https://howmanyofme.site/methodology/ for full details.