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Melanie

“Dark or black, from Greek melas” — Greek via Latin and French origin

Girl's name · #142 in the US (2025) · Retro

Melanie has appeared in US records since 1886 — best rank #42 (1972) · 262,640 babies named Melanie all-time · 1 in 780 girls born in 2025.

Around the world: about 1 in 830 girls in Sweden (2025) · about 1 in 2,100 girls in Austria (2025) · about 1 in 2,800 girls in Switzerland (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 42 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Melanies

• Melanie Griffith — American actress
• Melanie Klein — British Austrian born psychoanalyst (1882–1960)
• Melanie Martinez — American singer-songwriter
• Melanie C — British pop singer
• Melanie Brown — British singer, actress and television personality

In stories & tradition

• Melanie Hamilton — Gone with the Wind
• Melanie Marcus — Queer as Folk
• Melanie Barnett — The Game

What Melanies become

Among 1,910 notable people named Melanie:

Scientists & scholars appear 1.46× more often than among typical names — e.g. Melanie Joy, American psychologist.

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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