Mervyn

maleStatistical record

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

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

Mervyn: Recorded since 1954, its highest recorded position is #85, and it was last ranked in 2017.

3registrars recorded it
37times a registrar ranked it
64years from first to last
#85highest recorded position
8groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1998–2017

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1998	#2901
1999	#2943
2002	#3225
2003	#1962
2006	#4052
2008	#3687
2009	#2544
2010	#3332
2012	#3416
2013	#4685
2017	#3996

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 Republic of Ireland in 23 of the 26 years from 1964 to 1989.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1954–2017 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1954
First recorded at #85 among boys in New Zealand in 1954 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
New Zealand · Boys
Highest recorded1954–1957
Highest recorded position: #85 among boys in New Zealand, in 1954 (recorded 1954–1957).
New Zealand · Boys
Most recent2017
Most recently recorded at #3996 among boys in England and Wales, in 2017.
England and Wales · Boys

Mervyn appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Boys, with 23 ranked years and 230 births registered; the earliest is New Zealand · Boys, from 1954.

Mervyn across 3 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.

Mervyn'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 · Boys	#136 (1964)	#136 (1964)	#278 (1989)	23 of 26	230 (1964–1989)	21 (1976)
England and Wales · Boys	#2901 (1998)	#1962 (2003)	#3996 (2017)	11 of 20	47 (1998–2017)	7 (2003)
New Zealand · Boys	#85 (1954)	#85 (1954)	#95 (1957)	3 of 4	162 (1954–1957)	61 (1954)

Mervyn 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 Mervyn in Republic of Ireland · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960s	59	6 of 10	10
1970sbusiest	131	10 of 10	13
1980s	40	7 of 10	6

Across Republic of Ireland · Boys, the 1970s were its busiest decade, averaging 13 births a year.

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

Mervyn 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 1954 to 2017. Highest recorded position: #85 in New Zealand in 1954.

Mervyn'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
2017	England and Wales	male	#3996	4	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#4685	3	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#3416	5	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#3332	5	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#2544	7	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#3687	4	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#4052	3	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1962	7	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#3225	3	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#2943	3	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#2901	3	High	Verified
1957	New Zealand	male	#95	53	High	Verified
1955	New Zealand	male	#94	48	High	Verified
1954	New Zealand	male	#85	61	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	male	#278	4	High	Verified
1988	Republic of Ireland	male	#271	4	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	male	#234	6	High	Verified
1984	Republic of Ireland	male	#274	4	High	Verified
1983	Republic of Ireland	male	#258	5	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	male	#235	7	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	male	#213	10	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	male	#176	15	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#205	10	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	male	#179	14	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	male	#150	21	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	male	#192	13	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	male	#203	11	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	male	#182	14	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	male	#168	16	High	Verified
1971	Republic of Ireland	male	#257	5	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	male	#178	12	High	Verified
1969	Republic of Ireland	male	#146	16	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	male	#197	7	High	Verified
1967	Republic of Ireland	male	#222	5	High	Verified
1966	Republic of Ireland	male	#185	7	High	Verified
1965	Republic of Ireland	male	#161	10	High	Verified
1964	Republic of Ireland	male	#136	14	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
New Zealand hub — collected by NZ Department of Internal Affairs
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 3 registrars between 1954 and 2017, ranked in 37 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #85, first reached in 1954.

It held a top-100 place in 3 years, 2 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 61 births, registered in New Zealand in 1954.

Its record falls into 11 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 8 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1964, and 44 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.

Mert · #691, 29y
Mervin · #218, 12y
Meryem · #718, 30y
Meryl · #790, 15y

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.

Giuseppe · #85, 36y
Quentin · #85, 36y
Jeffery · #87, 42y
Majella · #78, 37y

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1950 and 1959.

Maiken · #85, 62y
Reginald · #85, 48y
Gloria · #86, 65y
Stewart · #84, 69y

Mervyn was ranked #85 in New Zealand · Boys in 1954. 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.

Mervyn 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 Mervyn without appearing here.

Mervyn moved ahead of

Graeme Compare
In 2008 they stood at #4052 and #2870 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2009 that had become #2544 and #4527.
Brent Compare
In 2016 they stood at #4685 and #3822 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2017 that had become #3996 and #4812.
Brooke Compare
In 2016 they stood at #4685 and #3822 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2017 that had become #3996 and #4812.
Erin Compare
In 2016 they stood at #4685 and #4685 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2017 that had become #3996 and #4812.

Moved ahead of Mervyn

Jordan Compare
In 1988 they stood at #234 and #304 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1989 that had become #278 and #174.
Alex Compare
In 1987 they stood at #234 and #250 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1988 that had become #271 and #171.
Leon Compare
In 1977 they stood at #179 and #220 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1978 that had become #205 and #140.
Lewis Compare
In 1987 they stood at #234 and #250 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1988 that had become #271 and #207.

Moved the opposite way to Mervyn

Alan Compare
Between 1964 and 1989 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mervyn went from #136 to #278 while Alan went from #29 to #17.
Barry Compare
Between 1964 and 1989 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mervyn went from #136 to #278 while Barry went from #69 to #37.
Christopher Compare
Between 1964 and 1989 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mervyn went from #136 to #278 while Christopher went from #27 to #16.
Colin Compare
Between 1964 and 1989 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mervyn went from #136 to #278 while Colin went from #89 to #53.

Moved the same way as Mervyn

Alfred Compare
Between 1964 and 1989 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mervyn went from #136 to #278 and Alfred from #134 to #278.
Anthony Compare
Between 1964 and 1989 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mervyn went from #136 to #278 and Anthony from #12 to #27.
Arthur Compare
Between 1964 and 1989 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mervyn went from #136 to #278 and Arthur from #98 to #190.
Brendan Compare
Between 1964 and 1989 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Mervyn went from #136 to #278 and Brendan from #17 to #39.

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 1954 to 2017. Highest recorded position: #85 in New Zealand in 1954. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Mervyn

Mervyn at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Mervyn across 3 official records

Mervyn by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Mervyn appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Mervyn

Mervyn and the names beside it

Mervyn moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Mervyn

Moved the opposite way to Mervyn

Moved the same way as Mervyn

Mervyn at a glance

Mervyn across 3 official records

Mervyn by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Mervyn appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Mervyn

Mervyn and the names beside it

Mervyn moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Mervyn

Moved the opposite way to Mervyn

Moved the same way as Mervyn