Girl · Uncertain; spread through Hungarian literature
Melinda
Say it: MEH-leen-daw
Meaning
In Hungary the name comes from the heroine of József Katona's drama Bánk bán (written 1815); its earlier origin is uncertain.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Spread in Hungary from Katona's national drama and the later opera by Ferenc Erkel.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1970s
In the United States
- 135,694 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1973, about 1 in 352 girls
- 105 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Well-known works of literature
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.