Recorded 1902–2025 · United States
Mel was most popular in 1958, when 132 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,516 that year. In 2025 it ranked #8,448, with 27 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,201 people named Mel.
Mel first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1902, which makes it about 123 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 118 of the 124 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,201 American births named Mel between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 2,764 are estimated to be alive today.
27 American babies were named Mel in 2025, ranking #8,448 that year.
Mel is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 25 births a year, against 11 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +128% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Mel is mostly a boy’s name — 12.1% of the 4,201 Americans given it were girls and 87.9% were boys. It changed hands: since 2019 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 58% girls and 42% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 2,764 Americans named Mel are alive today — 66% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 63 years old, and half are between 38 and 72. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Mel on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org