Given name
Melba
“from the city of Melbourne”
Melba is used as a given name. One interpretation is “from the city of Melbourne.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “from the city of Melbourne.”
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1893. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Melba through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 34,925
- 52 boys · 34,873 girls
- Most popular year
- 1924
- 1,003 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #12,736 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +100%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 12,736 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 998 in 1924. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 15,851 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Melba’s family of names
Melba has a related form in Melbah. Melba has a related form in Mellba. Melba has a related form in Mellbah.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Melba
- Melba MooreAmerican singer, and actressborn 1945
- Melba ListonAmerican jazz trombonist, musical arranger, and composer (1926–1999)
- Melba PhillipsAmerican physicist and science educator (1907–2004)
- Melba MontgomeryAmerican musician (1938–2025)
- Melba HernándezCuban politician1921–2014
- Melba Roy MoutonAfrican-American Assistant Chief of Research Programs at NASA1929–1990
- Melba Pattillo BealsAmerican journalist and educatorborn 1941
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Melba, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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