Merry

Where Merry comes from

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

  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1898
    First appearance
    #1,700 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1948
    Merry Clayton born
    American musician
  3. 1948
    Peak, #455
    307 babies named Merry — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1952
    Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks born
    American historian
  5. 1966
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #960.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from merry.
  • A diminutive of the female given name Mercy.
  • A diminutive of the male given name Meredith.
Namesakes
  • Merry Clayton · American musician, born 1948
  • Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks · American historian, born 1952
  • Merry Riana · Indonesian entrepreneur and motivator, born 1980
  • Merry Aart · Estonian politician, born 1953

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.