Meryl

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Meryl: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Meryl: Recorded since 1996, its highest recorded position is #790, and it stood at #885 in 2025.

3registrars recorded it
17times a registrar ranked it
30years from first to last
#790highest recorded position
4groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2096
1997	#1802
2000	#3912
2006	#5061
2008	#4524
2009	#3031
2010	#4688
2014	#4003
2015	#3615
2016	#4096
2018	#5666
2020	#5493
2021	#3961
2024	#3695

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in 14 of the 29 years from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #790 among girls in Scotland, #3695 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1996–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #2096 among girls in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #885 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Meryl appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 14 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 70 births with the name.

Meryl across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Meryl's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Girls	#2096 (1996)	#1802 (1997)	#3695 (2024)	14 of 29	70 (1996–2024)	9 (1997)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#876 (2014)	#876 (2014)	#885 (2025)	2 of 12	6 (2014–2025)	3 (2014)

Meryl by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Meryl in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	16	2 of 10	8
2000s	17	4 of 10	4
2010sbusiest	23	5 of 10	5
2020s	14	3 of 10	5

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2010s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 5 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Meryl appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #790 in Scotland in 2024.

Meryl's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#3695	6	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#3961	5	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#5493	3	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#5666	3	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#4096	5	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#3615	6	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#4003	5	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#4688	4	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#3031	7	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#4524	4	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#5061	3	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3912	3	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#1802	9	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#2096	7	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#885	3	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#876	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#790	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1996 and 2025, ranked in 15 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #790, first reached in 2024.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 9 births, registered in England and Wales in 1997.

Its record falls into 8 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 5 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2014, and 28 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

4decades with a ranked yearRecorded in 4 decades →
3 yearslongest unbroken run of ranked years
8separate stretches the record falls into6 to 9 separate stretches →
5 yearslongest absence inside the recorded period4 to 9 years missing →
#885position in 2025, its most recent recorded year
28 yearsyears between the first and last registrar to record itAcross 21 to 40 years →
9births registered in its largest year, 1997Under 25 births →

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Mervyn · #85, 37y
Meryem · #718, 30y
Meshach · #1167, 23y
Messiah · #1391, 18y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Aleia · #790, 13y
Marcela · #790, 15y
Peach · #790, 10y
Zariah · #790, 17y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Adanna · #790, 26y
Ariadne · #790, 26y
Arwyn · #790, 23y
Bali · #790, 10y

Meryl was ranked #790 in Scotland · Girls in 2024. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Meryl and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Meryl without appearing here.

Meryl moved ahead of

Cheryl Compare
In 2023 they stood at #5493 and #5493 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #3695 and #5891.
Debra Compare
In 2023 they stood at #5493 and #5493 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #3695 and #5891.
Evan Compare
In 2023 they stood at #5493 and #3899 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #3695 and #5891.
Geraldine Compare
In 2023 they stood at #5493 and #5493 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #3695 and #5891.

Moved ahead of Meryl

Rory Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3615 and #5730 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #5666 and #1977.
Finley Compare
In 2017 they stood at #4096 and #5785 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #5666 and #2674.
Mila Compare
In 1999 they stood at #1802 and #3174 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2000 that had become #3912 and #1313.
Selma Compare
In 1999 they stood at #1802 and #1958 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2000 that had become #3912 and #1389.

Moved the opposite way to Meryl

Ada Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Meryl went from #2096 to #3695 while Ada went from #2683 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Meryl went from #2096 to #3695 while Alma went from #2096 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Meryl went from #2096 to #3695 while Alyssa went from #783 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Meryl went from #2096 to #3695 while Amalie went from #2096 to #1128.

Moved the same way as Meryl

Abigail Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Meryl went from #2096 to #3695 and Abigail from #21 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Meryl went from #2096 to #3695 and Aimee from #70 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Meryl went from #2096 to #3695 and Aisling from #440 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Meryl went from #2096 to #3695 and Alex from #161 to #2253.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #790 in Scotland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Meryl

Meryl at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Meryl across 2 official records

Meryl by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Meryl appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Meryl

Meryl and the names beside it

Meryl moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Meryl

Moved the opposite way to Meryl

Moved the same way as Meryl

Meryl at a glance

Meryl across 2 official records

Meryl by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Meryl appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Meryl

Meryl and the names beside it

Meryl moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Meryl

Moved the opposite way to Meryl

Moved the same way as Meryl