Given name & surname
Myrtle
“of the sacred evergreen shrub”
Myrtle is used as a given name and a surname. One Latin interpretation is “of the sacred evergreen shrub.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “of the sacred evergreen shrub.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Myrtle through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 136,984
- 498 boys · 136,486 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 4,094 babies
- 2025
- 8
- #11,611 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 11,611 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 4,076 in 1918. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 14,323 as a first name in 2020; 372 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Myrtle’s family of names
In English usage, Myrtle has a diminutive in MYRT. In English usage, Myrtle has a feminine form in Myrtilla. Myrtle has a related form in Myrta.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Myrtle
- Myrtle CookCanadian athletics competitor (1902-1985)
- Myrtle BachelderAmerican chemist and Women's Army Corps officer (1908–1997)
- Myrtle CorbinAmerican sideshow performer (1868–1928)
- Myrtle StedmanAmerican actress (1883-1938)
- Myrtle McAteerUS tennis player1878–1952
- Myrtle GonzalezAmerican actress (1891–1918)
- Myrtle LindAmerican actress1898–1966
- Myrtle CagleAmerican pilot and astronaut (1925–2019)
- Myrtle ReedAmerican novelist and poet (1874-1911)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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