Given name
Merrilee
“one who is lighthearted and joyful”·“filled with joy”
Merrilee is a variant of Merry. Interpretations include “one who is lighthearted and joyful” (English) and “filled with joy” (English). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Merrilee is a variant of Merry. Interpretations include “one who is lighthearted and joyful” (English) and “filled with joy” (English). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Merrilee is a variant of Merry. An origin associated with Merry is English.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1923. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Merrilee is a variant of Merry. The history of Merry gives this family its wider story. In Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit, Mercy Pecksniff is called Merry. This gives the name a specific literary link with Mercy alongside its everyday association with a cheerful disposition.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Merrilee through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,871
- 0 boys · 1,871 girls
- Most popular year
- 1942
- 78 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 78 in 1942. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,598 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.
Merrilee’s family of names
Merrilee has a related form in Merry.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Merrilee
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Merrilee, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Merrilie
“one who is lighthearted and joyful” · “filled with joy”
>99% girls
Jeralee
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% girls
Jeraldine
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% girls
Myrna
“one who is much loved”
>99% girls
Jerrie
“a holy man; having great strength” · “one who rules with the spear”
6% boys · 94% girls
Jerilene
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% girls
Merrie
“one who is lighthearted and joyful” · “filled with joy”
>99% girls
Jerilyn
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% girls