Merle
13% girls · 87% boys
About Merle
Originally a nickname for someone who loved to sing or whistle, Merle is sleek but gentle, with a hint of great grandpa about it..
Merle for girls#16474 US
A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany. In the US, it is a unisex name, while in Germany and the Netherlands, it is predominantly feminine.
Pronounced MERL.
As of November 2026, Merle ranked #3485 for boys and #16474 for girls in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #170 for boys in 1918 and #295 for girls in 1903.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #4,650 | 21 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #4,872 | 20 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #4,441 | 23 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #4,589 | 22 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #3,465 | 32 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #4,586 | 22 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #4,055 | 27 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #3,157 | 39 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #4,640 | 22 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #3,485 | 33 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Merle for girls
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Merle on lists
Famous Merles
- Merle Ronald HaggardBoy
American country music singer
- Merle Robert TravisBoy
American country music singer
- Merle Eugene CurtiBoy
American historian and author
- Merle Reid HarmonBoy
American sportscaster
- (Wyatt) Merle KilgoreBoy
American singer and music manager
- (Eddy) Merle WatsonBoy
American singer and guitarist; son of singer Doc Watson
- Merle Slease EvansBoy
American circus band conductor
- Merle JohnsonBoy
Jr., birth name of Troy Donahue, American actor
- Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson)Girl
Anglo,Indian actress
- Merle Greene RobertsonGirl
American artist and academic
- Merle DandridgeGirl
American actress and singer
- Merle Louise LetowtGirl
American actress and singer
- Merle ParkGirl
British ballerina
- Merle BergersGirl
Dutch model
- Merle GinsbergGirl
American fashion writer, judge on RuPaul's Drag Race
Merle in pop culture
- Merle DixonBoy
character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
- Merle HighchurchBoy
a main character in podcast "The Adventure Zone"
- Merle "The Pearl" StockwellBoy
character on "Eight is Enough"
- Merle KinbonaGirl
'woman of Bournehills, a representation of Barbados' in The Chosen Place, the Timeless People (1969) by Paule Marshall