Melinda
Melinda was the 1985th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 97 babies. Its best year was 1973, when it ranked 72nd; the most babies were born in 1970 (4,225). Over the last ten years it has moved down 620 places. More babies were named Melinda in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Meaning 18th-century coinage (Mel- + -inda) · English
Say it muh-LIN-duh /məˈlɪndə/
- Rank in 2025
- #1,985 girls, down 129 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 97girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19704,225 babies
- Total since 1880
- 136,159babies recorded
What does the name Melinda mean?
Melinda was coined in the 18th century from names such as Melanie and Melissa plus the -inda ending of Belinda and Lucinda, as Wiktionary notes. Its elements suggest Greek meli 'honey' (as in Melissa 'bee'), but the name itself was made up and has no inherited meaning. Melinda was popular in the US in the 1960s and 1970s.
μέλι (meli) (Ancient Greek, “honey (in Melissa)”)
How sure is this? Probable. A coined name.
Related names: Belinda, Linda, Mindy, Melissa.
See also: English names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Melinda', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (our computation), SSA (public domain)
Nicknames for Melinda
The usual nicknames for Melinda are Mindy, Mel and Linda. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Melinda in the last five years, 356 were named Linda, against 322 twenty years earlier. Mindy and Mel are also gaining on the full name.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindy | Traditional | #2,401 | 442 |
| Mel · also for Amelia, Melody, Melanie | Traditional | #7,031 | 75 |
| Linda · also for Belinda | Traditional | #902 | 1,622 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Melindas go by each one.
Melinda popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 337 since 1954.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,985 | 97 |
| 2020 | #1,856 | 105 |
| 2010 | #1,099 | 227 |
| 2000 | #696 | 337 |
| 1990 | #208 | 1,381 |
| 1980 | #92 | 3,201 |
| 1970 | #93 | 4,225 |
| 1960 | #143 | 3,046 |
| 1950 | #222 | 1,163 |
| 1940 | #383 | 302 |
| 1930 | #1,791 | 21 |
| 1920 | #1,790 | 23 |
| 1910 | #1,152 | 16 |
| 1900 | #852 | 20 |
| 1890 | #781 | 13 |
| 1880 | #462 | 14 |
How popular is Melinda, counting every spelling?
Melinda is the most common spelling of a name family that had 97 girls in 2025 across its spellings. Together these spellings went to 97 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melinda | 97 | #1,985 | 455 |
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 Melinda?
97 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Melinda (0.03 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Melinda 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 86 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Melinda.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Melinda?
About 120,400 people born in the US named Melinda are alive today, with a median age of 54; half are between 45 and 63. That makes Melinda 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.
Melinda by state
How common Melinda was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in California (1.6×). In 41 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Melinda: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Melinda, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Melinda · Sibling names for Melinda
Questions about the name Melinda
What does Melinda mean?
Melinda means “18th-century coinage (Mel- + -inda)” (English origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Melinda?
Melinda was the 1985th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 97 babies. Its best year was 1973, when it ranked 72nd; the most babies were born in 1970 (4,225). Over the last ten years it has moved down 620 places. More babies were named Melinda in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Is Melinda a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Melinda in the US.
Where is Melinda most popular?
In 2021–2025, Melinda was most common in California (0.09 per 1,000 girls), followed by Texas and Illinois.