The name Merlin is of Celtic origin, and means falcon.
The table below indicates the number of times the name Merlin has been given to baby boys in recent years.
The last 125 years refers to 1880 through 2004; last year refers to 2004.
The rank and count values are based on U.S. Social Security Administration counts for the one thousand most popular names given to baby boys in each of these years.
Cumulative Usage Chart for the Name Merlin
Use of the Name Merlin for Boys During the Last ...
125 Years
50 Years
25 Years
10 Years
5 Years
2 Years
1 Year
12,542
1,724
0
0
0
0
0
The table below indicates the number of times the name Merlin has been given to baby boys and baby girls each year, from 1880 through 2004.
Merlin first appeared in the top thousand boy or girl names during 1885, which is the first year shown on the table.
Merlin last appeared in either or both of these name lists during 1972, the last year shown on the table.
A blank entry indicates that the name did not rank among the top one thousand names given to boys or girls, respectively, during the specified year.
Yearly Usage Chart for the Name Merlin
Used as a Boy Name
Used as a Girl Name
Year
Rank
Count
Rank
Count
1885
899
6
1886
1887
723
8
1888
1889
1890
1891
921
6
1892
1893
1894
1895
731
10
1896
1897
1898
958
7
1899
837
8
1900
1901
915
7
1902
604
14
1903
825
9
1904
635
14
1905
825
10
1906
739
12
1907
527
21
1908
446
30
1909
603
20
1910
611
23
1911
519
33
1912
457
75
1913
468
85
1914
425
126
1915
402
179
1916
372
220
1917
370
229
1918
354
270
1919
365
251
1920
328
314
1921
316
342
1922
315
329
1923
366
264
1924
317
333
1925
307
344
1926
295
369
1927
287
388
1928
320
307
1929
306
327
1930
311
334
1931
288
366
1932
309
312
1933
307
302
1934
323
283
1935
310
308
1936
324
276
1937
339
255
1938
331
285
1939
357
247
1940
365
245
1941
364
257
1942
419
216
1943
375
265
1944
419
208
1945
436
187
1946
443
205
1947
530
163
1948
536
154
1949
542
151
1950
510
174
1951
515
174
1952
555
158
1953
576
155
1954
604
148
1955
553
176
1956
620
150
1957
635
146
1958
611
158
1959
672
129
1960
754
105
1961
740
109
1962
775
96
1963
745
109
1964
775
95
1965
824
81
1966
781
87
1967
836
74
1968
897
65
1969
896
73
1970
1971
1972
963
71
Totals:
12,542
0
During the last 125 years, parents have used Merlin as a boy's name nearly 100% of the time and hardly ever as a girl's name.
Cumulative counts and total counts shown on the above tables are somewhat lower than actual counts because the name Merlin appears in the top 1,000 boy names only 76 times during the last 125 years.