Mercy

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Mercy: Recorded every year since 1996, it reached #333 in 2003, and it stood at #980 in 2024.

2registrars recorded it
41times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#333highest recorded position
12groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1522
1997	#1666
1998	#1697
1999	#1970
2000	#1313
2001	#1520
2002	#1245
2003	#2191
2004	#1459
2005	#1500
2006	#1087
2007	#1384
2008	#1344
2009	#806
2010	#821
2011	#915
2012	#1018
2013	#1075
2014	#1234
2015	#1204
2016	#1112
2017	#1330
2018	#1234
2019	#1189
2020	#1507
2021	#1505
2022	#1081
2023	#1169
2024	#980

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 England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2022: #747 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #1081 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #1522 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
Highest recorded2001–2022
Highest recorded position: #333 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2003 (recorded 2001–2022).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #980 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Mercy appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 679 births with the name.

Mercy 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.

Mercy'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	#1522 (1996)	#806 (2009)	#980 (2024)	29 of 29	679 (1996–2024)	44 (2010)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#498 (2001)	#333 (2003)	#747 (2022)	12 of 22	62 (2001–2022)	9 (2003)

Mercy 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 Mercy in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	39	4 of 10	10
2000s	188	10 of 10	19
2010sbusiest	317	10 of 10	32
2020s	135	5 of 10	27

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 32 births a year.

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

Mercy 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 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #333 in Republic of Ireland in 2003.

Mercy'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	#980	36	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#1169	28	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#1081	31	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#1505	20	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#1507	20	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#1189	28	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#1234	27	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#1330	25	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#1112	31	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#1204	28	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#1234	27	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#1075	33	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#1018	35	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#915	39	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#821	44	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#806	43	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#1344	21	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#1384	19	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#1087	25	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#1500	15	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#1459	15	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#2191	8	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#1245	16	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#1520	12	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#1313	14	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#1970	8	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#1697	10	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#1666	10	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#1522	11	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#747	4	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	female	#612	6	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	female	#758	4	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#742	4	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#862	3	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#549	6	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	female	#502	6	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	female	#587	4	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	female	#370	8	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	female	#333	9	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	female	#512	4	High	Verified
2001	Republic of Ireland	female	#498	4	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.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #333, first reached in 2003.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 44 births, registered in England and Wales in 2010.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2001, and 5 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.

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.

Meral · #2170, 16y
Mercedes · #327, 30y
Meredith · #333, 29y
Merete · #33, 61y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 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.

Ellie-Louise · #332, 27y
Tariq · #334, 29y
Arun · #331, 29y
Beverly · #331, 31y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Farhan · #333, 29y
Hania · #333, 30y
Jannat · #333, 29y
Meredith · #333, 29y

Mercy was ranked #333 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 2003. 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.

Mercy 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 Mercy without appearing here.

Mercy moved ahead of

Brittany Compare
In 2005 they stood at #1500 and #1500 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2006 that had become #1087 and #3548.
Kristy Compare
In 2003 they stood at #2191 and #2191 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2004 that had become #1459 and #3197.
Helene Compare
In 2003 they stood at #2191 and #2191 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2004 that had become #1459 and #2802.
Pauline Compare
In 2003 they stood at #2191 and #1269 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2004 that had become #1459 and #2802.

Moved ahead of Mercy

Mila Compare
In 2002 they stood at #1245 and #1442 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2003 that had become #2191 and #799.
Audrey Compare
In 2002 they stood at #1245 and #1372 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2003 that had become #2191 and #1325.
Ada Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1459 and #1617 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2005 that had become #1500 and #951.
Violet Compare
In 2021 they stood at #612 and #768 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2022 that had become #747 and #254.

Moved the opposite way to Mercy

Ada Compare
Between 2001 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Mercy went from #498 to #747 while Ada went from #606 to #48.
Alice Compare
Between 2001 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Mercy went from #498 to #747 while Alice went from #87 to #29.
Alyssa Compare
Between 2001 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Mercy went from #498 to #747 while Alyssa went from #315 to #186.
Amelia Compare
Between 2001 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Mercy went from #498 to #747 while Amelia went from #302 to #11.

Moved the same way as Mercy

Blake Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Mercy went from #1666 to #980 and Blake from #3824 to #432.
Ezra Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Mercy went from #1666 to #980 and Ezra from #3824 to #1302.
Frida Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Mercy went from #1970 to #980 and Frida from #3900 to #811.
Meabh Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Mercy went from #1970 to #980 and Meabh from #3225 to #952.

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 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #333 in Republic of Ireland in 2003. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Mercy

Mercy at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Mercy across 2 official records

Mercy by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Mercy 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 Mercy

Mercy and the names beside it

Mercy moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Mercy

Moved the opposite way to Mercy

Moved the same way as Mercy

Mercy at a glance

Mercy across 2 official records

Mercy by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Mercy 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 Mercy

Mercy and the names beside it

Mercy moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Mercy

Moved the opposite way to Mercy

Moved the same way as Mercy