Given name
Merrily
“one who is lighthearted and joyful”·“filled with joy”
Merrily 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
Merrily 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
Merrily 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 1936. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Merrily 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
Merrily through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,037
- 0 boys · 1,037 girls
- Most popular year
- 1942
- 210 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #16,477 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 16,477 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 210 in 1942. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 913 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.
Merrily’s family of names
Merrily 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 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
Similar names
If you love Merrily, 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
Jerilyn
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% girls
Jeraldine
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% girls
Jeralee
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% girls
Myrna
“one who is much loved”
>99% girls
Shirli
“from the bright clearing”
>99% girls
Marilyn
“a man of the lake”
>99% girls
Roselind
>99% girls