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Melanie

Meaning: Dark, black
Origin: Greek — French form of Melania

Nicknames: Mel, Mellie

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

Popularity over time

Melanie reached #42 in 1972 and has eased to #142 since. About 263,000 girls have carried it since 1886.

Across the states

See where Melanie is more common.

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

Around the world

See how Melanie ranks in other countries and regions.

#127 in Mexico (2024) · #159 in Sweden (2025) · #243 in Ecuador (2025) · #320 in Austria (2025) · #416 in Switzerland (2025) · #482 in Norway (2025) · #582 in Canada (2025) · #635 in Italy (2024) · #652 in Poland (2025) · #780 in Scotland (2025) · #856 in Belgium (2025) · #863 in England & Wales (2025) and 11 more.

Famous Melanies

Melanie Griffith — American actress (born 1957)
Mélanie Laurent — French actress, director and singer (born 1983)
Melanie Klein — Austrian-British psychoanalyst (1882–1960)
Melanie Martinez — American singer-songwriter (born 1995)
Melanie C — British pop singer (born 1974)
Melanie Brown — British singer and TV personality (born 1975)
Melanie Lynskey — New Zealand actress (born 1977)
Melanie — American musician (1947–2024)
Melanie Thornton — American singer (1967–2001)
Mélanie Thierry — French actress and model (born 1981)

In stories & tradition

Melanie Hamilton — Fictional character from Gone With the Wind
Melanie Marcus^hu — Queer as Folk (TV series)
Melanie Barnett — Fictional character in the American sitcom The Game

What Melanies become

Among 2,216 notable people named Melanie:

Medical professionals appear 2.41× more often than among typical names — e.g. Mélanie Hahnemann, French homeopathic physician (1800–1878).

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variants Melany (#399) and Melani (#1056), Melanie would rank around #81 with about 3,100 births last year — the newborns split about 67/25/8 across Melanie, Melany, and Melani.

Similar names: Melany · Valerie · Melissa · Kehlani · Amy · Delaney

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

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