Mel

Where Mel comes from

The dictionaries list Mel as a given name — a diminutive of the male given names Melchior, Melchor, Melech, Melfyn, Melhem, Melindro, Meliton, Melville, Melvin, and Melvyn — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1902
    First appearance
    #1,137 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1958
    Peak, #688
    120 babies named Mel — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1967
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,018.
  4. 2019
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the male given names Melchior, Melchor, Melech, Melfyn, Melhem, Melindro, Meliton, Melville, Melvin, and Melvyn.
  • A diminutive of the female given names Amelia, Carmel, Melania, Melanie, Melantha, Melanthe, Melika, Melike, Melina, Melinda, Melissa, Melita, Melitta, and Melody.
Namesakes

No widely known Mel turns up in the encyclopedias yet — the name is still all theirs to make famous.

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.