Merritt

Where Merritt comes from

The dictionaries list Merritt as a given name — a unisex given name — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • From a surname
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #403 among boys — 18 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1899
    Peak, #394
    22 babies named Merritt — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1900
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,050.
  4. 1959
    Merritt Butrick born
    American actor
  5. 1980
    Merritt Wever born
    American actress
  6. 2014
    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 unisex given name.
  • A male given name transferred from the surname, of 19th and 20th century usage.
  • A female given name from surname, of 1970s and later usage.
Namesakes
  • Merritt Wever · American actress, born 1980
  • Merritt Butrick · American actor, 1959–1989
  • Merritt Lyndon Fernald · American botanist, 1873–1950
  • Merritt Patterson · Canadian actress, born 1990
  • Merritt A. Edson · Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient, 1897–1955

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.