Melba
Taken from the stage name of the Australian soprano Nellie Melba, who formed it from Melbourne, the city she came from; it spread as a given name afterward.
Melba in 2025
Melba was given to 7 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 21,307th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 473,620 babies born.
The history of Melba
Melba reached its highest point in 1924, when 1,003 babies were given the name, ranking 363rd that year.
Across the 133 years of records since 1893, 34,925 babies have been named Melba. Half of them were born before 1933, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Silent Generation.
Melba by decade
| Decade | Babies named Melba | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 216 | 624 |
| 1900s | 763 | 509 |
| 1910s | 4,538 | 388 |
| 1920s | 9,124 | 363 |
| 1930s | 7,971 | 374 |
| 1940s | 5,698 | 423 |
| 1950s | 3,792 | 721 |
| 1960s | 1,538 | 1,106 |
| 1970s | 736 | 1,740 |
| 1980s | 311 | 3,455 |
| 1990s | 129 | 6,885 |
| 2000s | 50 | 10,466 |
| 2010s | 28 | 17,434 |
| 2020s | 31 | 15,904 |
Where Melba is heading
Melba was not in use ten years ago, so there is no decade-long trend to compare against yet.
That is less than 5% of its 1924 peak — Melba is now a rare name in the United States.
Names like Melba
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Melba.