ninan.org

Melanie

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~249,200 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#142 among girls
Births in 2025
2,074 263,254 since 1880
Typical age
40 years, median

Melanie popularity over time

Melanie rank by birth year, 1886–2025Melanie ranked #828 in 1886 and #142 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #42, in 1972.#100#1,000#142best #42 in 197218901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1886–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Melanie in 1972 than in any other year — 6,320 of them. 1886 is the earliest year with at least five recorded births. Melanie has spent 40 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #142 with 2,074 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 41%. Year on year the rank dropped by 20.

Babies named Melanie per yearPeaks at 6,320 births in 1972.6,320 in 1972018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Melanie?

An estimated 249,200 living Americans are called Melanie. That is out of 263,254 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Melanie?

The typical living Melanie is 40 years old. More of them were born in the 1970s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Melanie a late 20th-century name.

Your Melanie

Ages of living people named MelanieHalf of living Melanies are older than 40 and half younger.median 40020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Melanie is most common

Melanie is 1.9× as common in Nevada as it is nationally. California, New Mexico and Arizona follow.

Where Melanie is used more than average5 states use the name Melanie more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: 1.9× the national rateNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.9× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: 1.7× the national rateAZNew Mexico: 1.7× the national rateNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: 1.7× the national rateTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Melanie is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Nevada 316 1.9×
California 5,325 1.9×
New Mexico 159 1.7×
Arizona 789 1.7×
Texas 4,221 1.7×

Melanie in England and Wales

ONS recorded 41 births named Melanie in 2025, ranking it #863. That is 20% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Melanie comes from

From French Mélanie, from Latin Melania, the name of two Roman fifth century saints, from Ancient Greek μέλας (“black, dark”).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Melanie

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Melanie Griffith American actress 1957 72
Melanie Klein British Austrian born psychoanalyst 1882–1960 55
Melanie Martinez Mexican-American singer-songwriter 1995 54
Melanie C British pop singer 1974 53
Melanie Lynskey New Zealand actress 1977 35
Melanie Oudin American tennis player 1991 33
Melanie Leupolz German association football player 1994 32
Melanie Thornton American singer 1967–2001 30
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 520 in 1947 to 955 in 1948 — 1.8 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/melanie.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).