Melanie

Melanie: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “dark, black”
Origin: Greek
Say it: MEL-uh-nee · 3 syllables
Used for: Girls

Melanie comes from Greek Melania, from melas meaning 'black' or 'dark.' It spread through Latin and French before becoming common in English.

French names English names Classic names International names

How popular is Melanie?

2024674 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Melanie in 20242,244

2024 rank#122 girls

Peak year1973

Total US babies since 1880261,158

Melanie has been fairly stable over the last fifteen years.

Names like Melanie

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Melanydark · Greek
Melanidark; black · Greek
Meloniedark · Greek
Sophiawisdom · Greek
Sofiawisdom · Greek
Chloeyoung green shoot · Greek
Zoelife · Greek
Penelopeweaver; duck · Greek

Melanie questions

What does the name Melanie mean?

Melanie means "dark, black". It comes from Greek. Melanie comes from Greek Melania, from melas meaning 'black' or 'dark.' It spread through Latin and French before becoming common in English.

Is Melanie a boy or girl name?

Melanie is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Melanie?

2,244 US babies were named Melanie in 2024. Its peak year was 1973.

How do you pronounce Melanie?

Melanie is usually pronounced MEL-uh-nee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.