girl's name
Melody
MEL-uh-dee
- Origin Greek
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 134,671
the United States
#79
2025 births
Melody is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "song" or "singing," from melodia. The word combines melos, a song or tune, with aeidein, to sing, so it means something close to song-singing.
- Melody is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 3,095 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,071 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1914.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Melody over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 7 |
| 1920s | 42 |
| 1930s | 169 |
| 1940s | 3,757 |
| 1950s | 15,541 |
| 1960s | 18,517 |
| 1970s | 12,345 |
| 1980s | 10,433 |
| 1990s | 7,527 |
| 2000s | 10,848 |
| 2010s | 19,885 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 16,013 |
What Melody means
Melody means a song or a sequence of musical notes, from the Greek melodia. Its two parts both concern song — melos, a tune, and ode, a singing — which is why some sources gloss it as "song way" or "sweet song."
Where Melody comes from
Melody comes from the Greek melodia, from melos, meaning a song, limb or member, and aoide, a song or ode. The word entered English through Old French melodie in the medieval period as a musical term long before it was a name. Its use as a given name belongs to the twentieth century and follows the same pattern as Harmony, Lyric and Cadence — musical vocabulary adopted as names, a small category that has grown considerably in American use. The Greek melos also survives in melodrama, originally a play with musical accompaniment rather than an overwrought one.
Melody in use
Melodrama originally meant a play with music, from the same Greek root — the sense of excess came later.
How popular is Melody?
In 2025, Melody was given to 3,095 babies in the United States, ranking #79 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Melody is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Melody is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mélody | Mélody is Melody written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #890. | 2,540 |
Names that peaked alongside Melody
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Melody also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Melody over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Melody
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Melody in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Melody
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Melody — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Melody
What does the name Melody mean?
Melody means "song" or "singing," from the Greek melodia.
Is Melody a modern name?
The word is ancient, but its use as a given name belongs to the twentieth century.
Are there names like Melody?
Harmony, Lyric and Cadence follow the same pattern of musical words used as names.
How popular is the name Melody?
In 2025, Melody was given to 3,095 babies in the United States, ranking #79 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Melody a girl's or a boy's name?
Melody is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Melody?
Melody has 3 syllables.
When was Melody most popular?
Melody peaked in 2025, when 3,095 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Melody?
Melody is usually shortened to Mel.
Is Melody a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Melody currently ranks #79 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.