Mercy

English word name

"compassion"

Mercy Origin and Meaning

The name Mercy is a girl's name of English origin meaning "compassion".

The quality of mercy makes this lovely Puritan virtue name a quiet favorite today. Although it was most popular in the late nineteenth century, Mercy is on its way to a comeback -- it rose 143 spots between 2012 and 2013, making it one of the year's fastest-rising names. Right now, it's still stylish and distinctive, a rare and wonderful combination.

Mercy is one of the characters with allegorical names in John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress, and Mercy Pecksniff appears in Dickens's novel Martin Chuzzlewit with the nickname Merry. Mercy Lewis, in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, was based on a real-life person, a witness at the Salem witch trials. Another historic Mercy is Mercy Warren, Revolutionary period patriot and writer of plays, books and poetry.

Comic/sidekick Andy Richter, when he named his daughter Mercy, joked, "Just in case Puritanism comes back, we'll be ready with a real Puritan name"; Madonna renamed her Malawi-born daughter Mercy James. As a word name and modern virtue name, it's one of the most fashionable English names for girls.

Mercy Rank in US Top 1000

# 833 in the US

Mercy Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 843 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Mercy

• 833 US 2023
• 843 Nameberry 2025
• 539 Future 2028

20 Names Similar to Mercy

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Mercy.

• Patience
• Glinda
• Valentine
• Honor
• Mimi
• Wanda
• Buffy
• Kitty
• Fay
• Charity
• Uma
• Rita
• Liberty
• Trixie
• Violette
• Portia
• Ginger
• Queenie
• Starla
• Sukie

Famous People Named Mercy

• Mercy Otis Warren American writer and propagandist of the American Revolution
• Mercy Fiennes Tiffin, English actress
• Mercy Aigbe Gentry Nigerian actress
• Mercy Johnson Nigerian actress
• Mercy Akide Nigerian footballer
• Mercy Lewis figure in the Salem witch trials; portrayed in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"
• Mercy Brown American girl exhumed on suspicion of being a vampire in 1892
• Mercy Josephine Richter (b. 2005) daughter of comedian Andy Richter
• Chifundo "Mercy" James (b. 2006) daughter of Madonna
• Mercy Diaz (b. 2010) daughter of comedian Joey Diaz
• Mercy Morgan (b. 2019) dauhgter of actress Emily Rose

The name Mercy in Pop Culture

• Mercy Merrick character in The New Magdalen (1873) by Wilkie Collins
• Mercy Pecksniff character in "Martin Chuzzlewit"
• Mercy character in "A Pilgrim's Progress"
• Mercy Lewis character in "The Crucible"
• Mercy Wood character in "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"
• Mercy intended name of Adrian & Ben's daughter ("The Secret Life of an American Teenager") until Adrian later miscarried
• Mercy Watson pig character in children's book series by Kate DiCamillo
• Mercy minor character in "Orange is the New Black" (Big Boo's Ex)
• Mercy Graves bodyguard and assistant to Lex Luthor in DC Comics
• Mercy a Swiss doctor/healer character in the video game Overwatch, otherwise known as Angela Ziegler
• Mercy baby on TV's "7th Heaven"
• Mercy character in the movie The Witch (2016)
• Mercy Carter character in "The Ransom of Mercy Carter"
• Mercy Thompson Hauptman, main character in Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
• Mercy character in film "The Warriors"