Unisex name ★ peaked 1980

Meredith

Meaning great lord Gender Unisex · 95% girls Rank 2025 #469 Trend ↑ Rising 19%

From Welsh Maredudd (“great lord”).

Rank 2025
#469
among girls · ↑23 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
656
named Meredith · +5% vs 2024
How common
1 in 2,450
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1980
2,087 babies
All-time total
82,044
#449 all-time among girls
First recorded
1883
in Social Security records

Meredith popularity over time

82,044 babies have been named Meredith since 1883, 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
0.380.751.131.518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
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 – 5 5 1 – –
1890s 6 28 34 3 +580% #1,535
1900s 85 96 181 18 +432% #1,040
1910s 464 559 1,023 102 +465% #789
1920s 892 827 1,719 172 +68% #705
1930s 1,300 613 1,913 191 +11% #476
1940s 2,901 788 3,689 369 +93% #391
1950s 2,889 508 3,397 340 -8% #441
1960s 3,927 306 4,233 423 +25% #266
1970s 15,840 255 16,095 1,610 +280% #143
1980s 19,204 188 19,392 1,939 +20% #140
1990s 12,779 64 12,843 1,284 -34% #190
2000s 8,889 15 8,904 890 -31% #293
2010s 5,147 5 5,152 515 -42% #502
2020s (to 2025) 3,464 – 3,464 577 +12% #469

Where Meredith 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 674 0.42 #458
2027 689 0.43 #449
2028 703 0.44 #438
2029 715 0.44 #433
2030 725 0.45 #428

Where Meredith is most popular

Girls named Meredith per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.365 per 1,000. Strongest in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Louisiana.

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 Meredith 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
Vermont 6 1.24 +239%
New Hampshire 20 1.08 +196%
Louisiana 92 1.05 +188%
Mississippi 45 0.962 +163%
Alabama 83 0.884 +142%
Indiana 103 0.734 +101%
Kentucky 61 0.713 +95%
Nebraska 25 0.695 +90%
Virginia 116 0.681 +86%
Wisconsin 70 0.680 +86%
Iowa 39 0.667 +83%
West Virginia 17 0.649 +77%
North Carolina 141 0.619 +69%
Ohio 143 0.603 +65%
Tennessee 93 0.587 +61%
Kansas 33 0.572 +57%
Oklahoma 42 0.571 +56%
Arkansas 30 0.568 +55%
South Carolina 49 0.545 +49%
Minnesota 58 0.537 +47%
Maryland 56 0.528 +45%
Missouri 61 0.506 +38%
Georgia 107 0.471 +29%
Texas 358 0.445 +22%
Michigan 78 0.428 +17%
South Dakota 6 0.420 +15%
Pennsylvania 99 0.419 +15%
Massachusetts 47 0.389 +6%
Maine 6 0.388 +6%
Arizona 52 0.371 ≈ national
Oregon 22 0.338 -8%
Colorado 37 0.331 -9%
Illinois 74 0.323 -12%
Connecticut 18 0.309 -15%
Washington 44 0.305 -17%
New York 105 0.265 -27%
Florida 113 0.264 -28%
California 210 0.250 -32%
New Jersey 42 0.233 -36%
Idaho 6 0.179 -51%
Nevada 5 0.108 -71%
Utah 5 0.060 -84%
Alaska – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
New Mexico – – –
Rhode Island – – –
Wyoming – – –

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 Meredith

Meredith is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #469 in 2025 with 656 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1883, 82,044 American babies have been named Meredith, about 95% girls and 5% boys, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 1980, when 2,087 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1980s.

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 Meredith stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Meredith?

The median living Meredith is about 39 years old; half are between 26 and 49. An estimated 74 thousand people named Meredith are alive in the United States today.

median 39 020406080100

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

Meredith 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 656 #469 – –
2024 623 #492 – –
2023 595 #509 – –
2022 557 #549 – –
2021 534 #570 – –
2020 499 #585 – –
2019 527 #581 – –
2018 598 #524 – –
2017 628 #502 – –
2016 588 #530 – –
2015 510 #590 – –
2014 477 #610 – –
2013 433 #658 – –
2012 423 #669 – –
2011 477 #602 5 #13,654
2010 486 #604 – –
2009 635 #485 – –
2008 710 #445 7 #10,648
2007 952 #347 – –
2006 1,064 #312 – –
2005 853 #367 – –
2004 953 #336 8 #8,658
2003 840 #363 – –
2002 833 #356 – –
2001 957 #324 – –
2000 1,092 #293 – –
1995 1,244 #226 7 #7,528
1990 1,555 #190 8 #6,219
1985 1,959 #149 17 #2,908
1980 2,071 #140 16 #2,914
1975 1,428 #181 33 #1,584
1970 1,352 #234 21 #1,970
1965 345 #512 33 #1,353
1960 247 #642 39 #1,264
1955 300 #532 35 #1,289
1950 304 #467 54 #943
1945 309 #404 59 #815
1940 172 #524 82 #672
1935 129 #563 64 #775
1930 94 #724 67 #790
1925 91 #778 83 #713
1920 75 #838 106 #614
1915 49 #952 87 #618
1910 24 #890 14 #846
1905 10 #1,277 9 #892
1900 5 #2,124 6 #1,264
1895 6 #1,535 5 #1,198
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Meredith

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

  1. 1 Meredith Baxter Meredith Baxter American actress and producer (born 1947) Contemporary
  2. 2 Meredith Vieira Meredith Vieira American broadcast journalist and television personality (born 1953) Contemporary
  3. 3 Meredith Monroe American actress (born 1969) Contemporary
  4. 4 Meredith Brooks American musician (born 1958) Contemporary
  5. 5 Meredith Scott Lynn Meredith Scott Lynn American actress, producer, and director b. 1970 · Contemporary
  6. 6 Meredith Monk Meredith Monk American composer, director, filmmaker, and choreographer b. 1942 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

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

How old is the average Meredith?

The median living Meredith is about 39 years old. Half of all living Merediths are between 26 and 49 years old.

How many people named Meredith are alive today?

An estimated 74 thousand people named Meredith are alive in the United States, based on 82,044 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Meredith mean?

From Welsh Maredudd (“great lord”).

How popular is the name Meredith in 2025?

Meredith ranked #469 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 656 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Meredith?

82,044 babies have been named Meredith in the United States since 1883, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Meredith most popular?

Meredith peaked in 1980, when 2,087 newborns received the name.

Is Meredith a boy or girl name?

Meredith is used for both: about 95% of babies named Meredith have been girls and 5% boys.

Is the name Meredith rising or falling?

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

Will Meredith become more popular?

Meredith is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 725 girls named Meredith in 2030, which would rank around #428. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Meredith?

Well-known people named Meredith include Meredith Baxter (actor), Meredith Vieira (presenter), Meredith Monroe (actor).

Names like Meredith

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

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