Melba
Melba is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 8 births. Its best rank was 202nd, in 1924.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 80.00% of girls
- Peak year
- 1924998 births
- Best rank
- #202in 1924
- Since 1893
- 34,866people given the name
The story in the numbers
34,866 girls have been named Melba in the United States since 1893, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1924, with 998 births.
The name has all but left use: 8 births in 2024, against 998 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1933, and the 1920s alone account for 26%. It has spent 74 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among girls, year by year
By decade
| Decade | girls named Melba | |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 216 | |
| 1900s | 763 | |
| 1910s | 4,538 | |
| 1920s | 9,099 | |
| 1930s | 7,951 | |
| 1940s | 5,691 | |
| 1950s | 3,792 | |
| 1960s | 1,538 | |
| 1970s | 736 | |
| 1980s | 311 | |
| 1990s | 129 | |
| 2000s | 50 | |
| 2010s | 28 | |
| 2020s | 24 |
In 1924, its biggest year
Melba was the 202nd most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1924 were Mary, Dorothy, Helen, Betty and Margaret. See all of 1924.
Names that rose and fell with Melba
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Ardispeak 1928
- Wilmapeak 1925
- Pearlinepeak 1927
- Inellpeak 1927
- Loycepeak 1933
- Earlinepeak 1927
- Veltapeak 1927
- Loispeak 1927
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.