Mervin

maleStatistical record

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

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

Mervin: Recorded since 1969, with a gap of 21 years, it reached #218 in 1974, and it stood at #3,334 in 2020.

2registrars recorded it
12times a registrar ranked it
52years from first to last
#218highest recorded position
6groupings it qualifies for

What stands out in Mervin's record

Absent from every published list for 21 years inside its own recorded period, then ranked again. Names by longest absence

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 2002–2020

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
2002	#3225
2009	#4527
2011	#4647
2020	#3334

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 · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in 4 of the 19 years from 2002 to 2020.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1969–2020 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1969
First recorded at #291 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1969 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Highest recorded1969–1980
Highest recorded position: #218 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 1974 (recorded 1969–1980).
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Most recent2020
Most recently recorded at #3334 among boys in England and Wales, in 2020.
England and Wales · Boys

Mervin appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Boys, which has ranked it in 8 years beginning in 1969, and has registered 37 births with the name.

Mervin 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.

Mervin'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 · Boys	#3225 (2002)	#3225 (2002)	#3334 (2020)	4 of 19	14 (2002–2020)	5 (2020)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#291 (1969)	#218 (1974)	#321 (1980)	8 of 12	37 (1969–1980)	9 (1974)

Mervin 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 Mervin in Republic of Ireland · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960s	3	1 of 10	3
1970sbusiest	31	6 of 10	5
1980s	3	1 of 10	3

Across Republic of Ireland · Boys, the 1970s were its busiest decade — the 6 years of it this list covers, averaging 5 births a year.

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

Mervin 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 1969 to 2020. Highest recorded position: #218 in Republic of Ireland in 1974.

Mervin'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
2020	England and Wales	male	#3334	5	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#4647	3	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#4527	3	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#3225	3	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	male	#321	3	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#326	3	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	male	#288	4	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	male	#236	7	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	male	#218	9	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	male	#307	3	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	male	#251	5	High	Verified
1969	Republic of Ireland	male	#291	3	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 1969 and 2020, ranked in 12 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #218, first reached in 1974.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 9 births, registered in Republic of Ireland in 1974.

Its record falls into 9 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 21 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2002, and 33 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.

6decades with a ranked yearRecorded in 6 decades →
3 yearslongest unbroken run of ranked years
9separate stretches the record falls into6 to 9 separate stretches →
21 yearslongest absence inside the recorded period20 or more years missing →
#3,334position in 2020, its most recent recorded year
33 yearsyears between the first and last registrar to record itAcross 21 to 40 years →
9births registered in its largest year, 1974Under 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.

Merryn · #809, 30y
Mert · #691, 30y
Mervyn · #85, 37y
Meryem · #718, 30y

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.

Fionnula · #218, 15y
Shaunagh · #220, 13y
Nula · #215, 17y
Dwain · #222, 12y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Attracta · #218, 16y
Catrine · #218, 35y
Fionnula · #218, 15y
Freda · #218, 51y

Mervin was ranked #218 in Republic of Ireland · Boys in 1974. 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.

Mervin 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 Mervin without appearing here.

Moved ahead of Mervin

Cillian Compare
In 1975 they stood at #236 and #251 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1976 that had become #288 and #203.
Jack Compare
In 1977 they stood at #288 and #316 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1978 that had become #326 and #242.

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 1969 to 2020. Highest recorded position: #218 in Republic of Ireland in 1974. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Mervin

Mervin at a glance

What stands out in Mervin's record

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Mervin across 2 official records

Mervin by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Mervin appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Mervin

Mervin and the names beside it

Moved ahead of Mervin

Mervin at a glance

What stands out in Mervin's record

Mervin across 2 official records

Mervin by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Mervin appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Mervin

Mervin and the names beside it

Moved ahead of Mervin