Mercy
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About Mercy
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 is also given to boys, where it ranks #4211 in the US.
Pronounced MER-see.
As of October 2026, Mercy ranked #867 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #611 in 1881.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #935 | 289 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #1,013 | 265 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #792 | 360 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #758 | 367 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #726 | 392 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #662 | 439 | #4,907 | 20 |
| 2020 | #801 | 339 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #781 | 363 | #4,875 | 20 |
| 2022 | #797 | 355 | #4,802 | 21 |
| 2023 | #834 | 329 | #3,956 | 28 |
| 2024 | #849 | 318 | #4,383 | 24 |
| 2025 | #867 | 313 | #4,211 | 25 |
World rankings
Mercy for girls
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Mercy on lists
Famous Mercys
- Mercy Otis WarrenGirl
American writer and propagandist of the American Revolution
- Mercy FiennesGirl
Tiffin, English actress
- Mercy Aigbe GentryGirl
Nigerian actress
- Mercy JohnsonGirl
Nigerian actress
- Mercy AkideGirl
Nigerian footballer
- Mercy LewisGirl
figure in the Salem witch trials; portrayed in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"
- Mercy BrownGirl
American girl exhumed on suspicion of being a vampire in 1892
- Mercy Josephine Richter (b. 2005)Girl
daughter of comedian Andy Richter
- Chifundo "Mercy" James (b. 2006)Girl
daughter of Madonna
- Mercy Diaz (b. 2010)Girl
daughter of comedian Joey Diaz
- Mercy Morgan (b. 2019)Girl
dauhgter of actress Emily Rose
Mercy in pop culture
- Mercy MerrickGirl
character in The New Magdalen (1873) by Wilkie Collins
- Mercy PecksniffGirl
character in "Martin Chuzzlewit"
- MercyGirl
character in "A Pilgrim's Progress"
- Mercy LewisGirl
character in "The Crucible"
- Mercy WoodGirl
character in "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"
- MercyGirl
intended name of Adrian & Ben's daughter ("The Secret Life of an American Teenager") until Adrian later miscarried
- Mercy WatsonGirl
pig character in children's book series by Kate DiCamillo
- MercyGirl
minor character in "Orange is the New Black" (Big Boo's Ex)
- Mercy GravesGirl
bodyguard and assistant to Lex Luthor in DC Comics
- MercyGirl
a Swiss doctor/healer character in the video game Overwatch, otherwise known as Angela Ziegler
- MercyGirl
baby on TV's "7th Heaven"
- MercyGirl
character in the movie The Witch (2016)
- Mercy CarterGirl
character in "The Ransom of Mercy Carter"
- Mercy ThompsonGirl
Hauptman, main character in Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
- MercyGirl
character in film "The Warriors"