girls' name ★ peaked 2025

Melody

Meaning From the noun melody Gender Girl Rank 2025 #79 Trend ↑ Rising 22%

From the noun melody; in regular use since the 20th century.

Rank 2025
#79
among girls · ↑12 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
3,095
named Melody · +11% vs 2024
How common
1 in 519
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2025
3,095 babies
All-time total
115,084
#338 all-time among girls
First recorded
1914
in Social Security records

Melody popularity over time

115,084 babies have been named Melody since 1914, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.631.251.882.518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s 7 – 7 1 – #3,077
1920s 42 – 42 4 +500% #3,071
1930s 169 – 169 17 +302% #1,403
1940s 3,757 – 3,757 376 +2123% #279
1950s 15,526 15 15,541 1,554 +314% #155
1960s 18,469 48 18,517 1,852 +19% #153
1970s 12,302 43 12,345 1,235 -33% #195
1980s 10,375 58 10,433 1,043 -15% #199
1990s 7,527 – 7,527 753 -28% #308
2000s 10,848 – 10,848 1,085 +44% #226
2010s 19,879 6 19,885 1,989 +83% #118
2020s (to 2025) 16,013 – 16,013 2,669 +34% #79

Where Melody is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 3,217 2.00 #74
2027 3,325 2.07 #74
2028 3,420 2.13 #70
2029 3,502 2.18 #68
2030 3,574 2.22 #64

Where Melody is most popular

Girls named Melody per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 1.66 per 1,000. Strongest in Rhode Island, Delaware, and New Mexico.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Melody born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Rhode Island 59 4.71 +183%
Delaware 41 3.61 +117%
New Mexico 85 3.50 +110%
Nevada 151 3.25 +96%
Hawaii 36 3.14 +89%
Alaska 23 2.67 +61%
California 2,203 2.62 +58%
Arizona 356 2.54 +53%
Mississippi 118 2.52 +52%
Oklahoma 178 2.42 +45%
Maryland 248 2.34 +41%
Florida 986 2.30 +39%
Maine 35 2.26 +36%
Arkansas 115 2.18 +31%
Oregon 138 2.12 +27%
New Hampshire 39 2.11 +27%
Texas 1,668 2.07 +25%
Michigan 369 2.03 +22%
Kentucky 171 2.00 +20%
Virginia 340 1.99 +20%
Connecticut 116 1.99 +20%
South Carolina 175 1.95 +17%
Georgia 442 1.95 +17%
Louisiana 170 1.94 +17%
New York 757 1.91 +15%
North Dakota 25 1.90 +14%
Nebraska 68 1.89 +14%
New Jersey 340 1.88 +13%
Wisconsin 192 1.86 +12%
North Carolina 424 1.86 +12%
Washington 265 1.83 +10%
Indiana 257 1.83 +10%
Colorado 201 1.80 +8%
Idaho 60 1.79 +8%
Utah 148 1.78 +7%
Alabama 166 1.77 +6%
Illinois 401 1.75 +5%
Pennsylvania 408 1.73 ≈ national
Tennessee 273 1.72 ≈ national
Massachusetts 203 1.68 ≈ national
Iowa 96 1.64 ≈ national
South Dakota 23 1.61 ≈ national
Missouri 194 1.61 ≈ national
Ohio 362 1.53 -8%
West Virginia 39 1.49 -10%
Kansas 85 1.47 -11%
Minnesota 155 1.44 -14%
Montana 16 1.18 -29%
Wyoming 5 1.17 -29%
District of Columbia 10 0.844 -49%
Vermont – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Melody

Melody is a top-100 name for girls in the United States, ranked #79 in 2025 with 3,095 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1914, 115,084 American babies have been named Melody. Its peak came in 2025, when 3,095 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2020s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Melody stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Melody?

The median living Melody is about 36 years old; half are between 11 and 59. An estimated 108 thousand people named Melody are alive in the United States today.

median 36 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Melody year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 3,095 #79 – –
2024 2,783 #91 – –
2023 2,572 #103 – –
2022 2,573 #109 – –
2021 2,466 #113 – –
2020 2,524 #106 – –
2019 2,466 #118 – –
2018 2,155 #136 6 #11,674
2017 2,072 #144 – –
2016 2,148 #144 – –
2015 2,178 #148 – –
2014 2,065 #158 – –
2013 1,867 #172 – –
2012 1,791 #172 – –
2011 1,562 #201 – –
2010 1,575 #198 – –
2009 1,452 #226 – –
2008 1,220 #280 – –
2007 1,143 #296 – –
2006 1,107 #299 – –
2005 1,040 #311 – –
2004 1,018 #312 – –
2003 1,023 #303 – –
2002 1,045 #297 – –
2001 1,080 #290 – –
2000 720 #399 – –
1995 708 #369 – –
1990 867 #315 – –
1985 967 #259 – –
1980 1,317 #199 5 #6,915
1975 1,198 #206 – –
1970 1,176 #262 6 #4,559
1965 1,664 #198 9 #2,916
1960 2,755 #153 5 #4,412
1955 1,801 #186 – –
1950 791 #273 – –
1945 307 #405 – –
1940 26 #1,540 – –
1935 15 #2,179 – –
1930 17 #2,084 – –
1925 6 #4,780 – –
1920 5 #5,501 – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Melody

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Melody Thomas Scott Melody Thomas Scott American actress (born 1956) Contemporary
  2. 2 Melody Thornton Melody Thornton American singer and television personality (born 1984) Contemporary
  3. 3 Melody Gardot Melody Gardot American jazz singer (born 1985) Contemporary
  4. 4 Melody Anderson Melody Anderson Canadian-American actress (born 1955) Contemporary
  5. 5 Melody Melody Musical artist b. 1982 · Contemporary
  6. 6 Melody Melody Spanish singer b. 1990 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Melody, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Melody?

The median living Melody is about 36 years old. Half of all living Melodys are between 11 and 59 years old.

How many people named Melody are alive today?

An estimated 108 thousand people named Melody are alive in the United States, based on 115,084 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Melody mean?

From the noun melody; in regular use since the 20th century.

How popular is the name Melody in 2025?

Melody ranked #79 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 3,095 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Melody?

115,084 babies have been named Melody in the United States since 1914, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Melody most popular?

Melody peaked in 2025, when 3,095 newborns received the name.

Is Melody a boy or girl name?

Melody is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Melody rising or falling?

Melody is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Melody become more popular?

Melody is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 3,574 girls named Melody in 2030, which would rank around #64. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Melody?

Well-known people named Melody include Melody Thomas Scott (actor), Melody Thornton (dancer), Melody Gardot (musician).

Names like Melody

Names that sound and feel close to Melody: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Melody with similar names → More names starting with M →