Melanie
Melanie was the 142nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 2,074 babies. Its best year was 1972, when it ranked 42nd with 6,296 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 61 places. More babies were named Melanie in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Meaning dark, black · Greek
Say it MEL-uh-nee /ˈmɛləni/
- Rank in 2025
- #142 girls, down 37 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 2,074girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19726,296 babies
- Total since 1880
- 263,254babies recorded
What does the name Melanie mean?
Melanie comes from French Mélanie and Latin Melania, from Greek melania, 'blackness', from melas, 'black, dark'. DMNES lists two early saints named Melania, a grandmother and granddaughter of the 4th and 5th centuries, and records Melanie in early modern England. Wikipedia notes that the Normans brought the French form, but that it became common in English only after the character Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1936).
μελανία (Ancient Greek, “blackness”)μέλας (Ancient Greek, “black, dark”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Melania, Mélanie, Mel, Melany.
See also: Greek names, names that mean a color.
Sources for this meaning
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Melanie', Durham University / The DMNES Editors
- Wiktionary, entry 'Melanie', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
- Wikipedia, 'Melanie', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
Nicknames for Melanie
The usual nicknames for Melanie are Mel and Mellie. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Melanie in the last five years, fewer than 1 were named Mel, against fewer than 1 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mel · also for Amelia, Melody, Melissa | Traditional | #7,031 | 75 |
| Mellie | Modern | #7,380 | 67 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Melanies go by each one.
Melanie popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 614 since 1956.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #142 | 2,074 |
| 2020 | #105 | 2,528 |
| 2010 | #82 | 3,486 |
| 2000 | #114 | 2,968 |
| 1990 | #86 | 3,813 |
| 1980 | #60 | 4,841 |
| 1970 | #91 | 4,330 |
| 1960 | #125 | 3,662 |
| 1950 | #237 | 1,026 |
| 1940 | #480 | 200 |
| 1930 | #2,645 | 12 |
| 1920 | #1,651 | 26 |
| 1910 | #1,883 | 8 |
| 1900 | #1,088 | 13 |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Melanie, counting every spelling?
Melanie is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #101 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #142 for Melanie on its own. Together these spellings went to 3,146 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melanie | 2,074 | #142 | 10,809 |
| Melany | 779 | #399 | 2,827 |
| Melani | 234 | #1,056 | 1,164 |
| Melanny | 27 | #4,950 | 119 |
| Melannie | 18 | #6,473 | 113 |
| Melaney | — | — | 34 |
| Melanee | — | — | 33 |
| Melanni | — | — | 30 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Melanie?
2,074 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Melanie (0.58 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Melanie born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 4 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Melanie.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Melanie?
About 245,700 people born in the US named Melanie are alive today, with a median age of 41; half are between 21 and 54. That makes Melanie mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Melanie by state
How common Melanie was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in New Mexico (2.1×), Delaware (2.1×), Nevada (1.8×), California (1.8×), Arizona (1.6×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in West Virginia, South Dakota, North Dakota.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Melanie: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Melanie, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Melanie · Sibling names for Melanie
Questions about the name Melanie
What does Melanie mean?
Melanie means “dark, black” (Greek origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Melanie?
Melanie was the 142nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 2,074 babies. Its best year was 1972, when it ranked 42nd with 6,296 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 61 places. More babies were named Melanie in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Is Melanie a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Melanie in the US.
Where is Melanie most popular?
In 2021–2025, Melanie was most common in New Mexico (2.84 per 1,000 girls), followed by Delaware and Nevada.