|
||||
[ 1 syll. mer-le, me-rle ] The boy name Merle is sometimes used as a girl name. Its pronunciation is MERL †. Merle is used chiefly in the English language, and it is derived from Old French and Celtic origins. Old French origin: Derived from the elements 'merle' meaning blackbird ; 'merula' meaning blackbird. See Merle for more info. Merle is a variant of the name Merrill (English). Merle has 13 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants used in English include Meriel, Merlo, and Merrill. Foreign variants of Merle include Merel (Dutch), Merl, Merla, Merlina, Merline, Merola, Murle, Myrle, Myrlene, and Myrline. Merle is rare as a baby name for boys. At the modest peak of its usage in 1918, 0.076% of baby boys were given the name Merle. Its ranking then was #170. The baby name has since substantially declined in popularity, and is today of infrequent use. Out of all boy names in its group, Merle was nonetheless the most popular in 2008. Though Merle is currently more often than not a boy name, there was a period before 1900 when more girls were given the name. From 1901 on, increasingly more boys than girls were named Merle. In 1956, Merle as a boy name outnumbered its use as a girl name by 3 times. Baby names that sound like Merle include Merl, Marl, Merel (Dutch), Marlee, Marleigh, Marley (English), Marli, Marlie, Marlo (English), Marlow (English), Marlowe (English), Marly (English), Meriel (English), Meril (English), Merill (English), Merla, Merlo (English), Merrel (English), Merrell (English), and Merril (English). A famous person named Merle is Country Singer Merle Haggard, born 6 April 1937, Bakersfield, California.
† Pronunciation for Merle: M as in "me (M.IY)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)"   |
