Mel

maleStatistical record

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

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

2registrars recorded it
42times a registrar ranked it
62years from first to last
#129highest recorded position
5groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 2008–2022

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2008	#4524
2018	#5666
2019	#4001
2022	#3148

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

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 3 of the 50 years from 1976 to 2025.

In 2004: #439 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #3009 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1964–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1964
First recorded at #129 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1964 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Highest recorded1964–2012
Highest recorded position: #129 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 1964 (recorded 1964–2012).
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #885 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Mel appears in 4 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Boys, which has ranked it in 33 years beginning in 1964, and has registered 190 births with the name.

Mel across 4 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.

Mel'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
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#497 (1976)	#497 (1976)	#885 (2025)	3 of 50	10 (1976–2025)	4 (2024)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#129 (1964)	#129 (1964)	#616 (2012)	33 of 49	190 (1964–2012)	16 (1964)
England and Wales · Girls	#4524 (2008)	#3148 (2022)	#3148 (2022)	4 of 15	19 (2008–2022)	7 (2022)
England and Wales · Boys	#2859 (1997)	#2859 (1997)	#3009 (2004)	2 of 8	7 (1997–2004)	4 (2004)

Mel by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

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 Mel in Republic of Ireland · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960sbusiest	66	6 of 10	11
1970s	54	8 of 10	7
1980s	24	6 of 10	4
1990s	25	7 of 10	4
2000s	17	5 of 10	3
2010s	4	1 of 10	4

Across Republic of Ireland · Boys, the 1960s were its busiest decade — the 6 years of it this list covers, averaging 11 births a year.

See the names Republic of Irelandhas recorded the most births with →

Mel 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 2 regions, from 1964 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #129 in Republic of Ireland in 1964.

Mel'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
2022	England and Wales	female	#3148	7	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#4001	5	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#5666	3	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#4524	4	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#3009	4	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#2859	3	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#885	3	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	female	#736	4	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	male	#616	4	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#701	3	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	male	#698	3	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	male	#629	3	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	male	#493	4	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	male	#439	4	High	Verified
1999	Republic of Ireland	male	#290	5	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	male	#382	3	High	Verified
1996	Republic of Ireland	male	#295	5	High	Verified
1994	Republic of Ireland	male	#342	3	High	Verified
1993	Republic of Ireland	male	#339	3	High	Verified
1992	Republic of Ireland	male	#337	3	High	Verified
1991	Republic of Ireland	male	#324	3	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	male	#307	3	High	Verified
1986	Republic of Ireland	male	#283	4	High	Verified
1983	Republic of Ireland	male	#330	3	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	male	#286	4	High	Verified
1981	Republic of Ireland	male	#260	5	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	male	#264	5	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	male	#218	9	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#255	5	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	female	#497	3	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	male	#236	7	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	male	#321	3	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	male	#227	8	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	male	#238	6	High	Verified
1971	Republic of Ireland	male	#217	8	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	male	#206	8	High	Verified
1969	Republic of Ireland	male	#187	10	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	male	#197	7	High	Verified
1967	Republic of Ireland	male	#156	12	High	Verified
1966	Republic of Ireland	male	#139	14	High	Verified
1965	Republic of Ireland	male	#181	7	High	Verified
1964	Republic of Ireland	male	#129	16	High	Verified

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

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

Where Mel is officially recorded

2 official registrars have recorded Mel, between 1964 and 2025, in 39 of those 62 years. Each registrar publishes for its own population on its own methodology, so the positions below are each one country's own ranking and are not comparable with one another.

Registrar	Recorded	Years	Its own highest position
Republic of Ireland	1964–2025	36	#129 in 1964
England and Wales	1997–2022	6	#2859 in 1997

Its high point came 33 years earlier in Republic of Ireland (1964) than in England and Wales (1997).

No registrar recorded it for 5 years after 2012; it appears again in 2018.

Mel was ranked #129 in Republic of Ireland · Boys in 1964. 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.

Gordon#129
Graham#129
Malachy#129
Nial#129
Alfred#134
Norman#134
Marcus#136
Mervyn#136

Mel 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 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Mel without appearing here.

Mel moved ahead of

Kenneth
In 2011 they stood at #701 and #292 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2012 that had become #616 and #718.
Ronald
In 2011 they stood at #629 and #527 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2012 that had become #616 and #718.

Moved ahead of Mel

Daithi
In 2003 they stood at #290 and #330 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2004 that had become #439 and #233.
Archie
In 2005 they stood at #439 and #506 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2006 that had become #493 and #334.
Lucas
In 1996 they stood at #295 and #336 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1997 that had become #382 and #242.
Shea
In 1996 they stood at #295 and #369 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1997 that had become #382 and #251.

Moved the opposite way to Mel

Alexander
Between 1964 and 2012 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mel went from #129 to #616 while Alexander went from #116 to #54.
Benjamin
Between 1964 and 2012 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mel went from #129 to #616 while Benjamin went from #139 to #68.
Conor
Between 1964 and 2012 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mel went from #129 to #616 while Conor went from #56 to #5.
Daniel
Between 1964 and 2012 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mel went from #129 to #616 while Daniel went from #19 to #3.

Moved the same way as Mel

Adrian
Between 1964 and 2012 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mel went from #129 to #616 and Adrian from #65 to #127.
Alan
Between 1964 and 2012 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mel went from #129 to #616 and Alan from #29 to #72.
Alfred
Between 1964 and 2012 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mel went from #129 to #616 and Alfred from #134 to #401.
Andrew
Between 1964 and 2012 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mel went from #129 to #616 and Andrew from #34 to #60.

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 2 regions, from 1964 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #129 in Republic of Ireland in 1964. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Mel

Mel at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Mel across 4 official records

Mel by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Mel appears in

Popularity data

Where Mel is officially recorded

Names published alongside Mel

Mel and the names beside it

Mel moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Mel

Moved the opposite way to Mel

Moved the same way as Mel

Mel at a glance

Mel across 4 official records

Mel by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Mel appears in

Names published alongside Mel

Mel and the names beside it

Mel moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Mel

Moved the opposite way to Mel

Moved the same way as Mel