Merida

Meaning of Merida

Merida, a feminine given name whose linguistic trajectory runs from the Latin emeritus (“deserving, veteran”) through the Spanish place-name Mérida, carries connotations of hard-won merit and distinction. In contemporary culture the designation is most readily associated with Pixar’s 2012 feature Brave, whose flame-haired Scottish princess introduced the name to a broad Anglo-American audience and precipitated a measurable, albeit modest, rise in U.S. usage: the Social Security records show an immediate jump from 19 registrations in 2012 to a peak of 116 in 2017, after which annual totals have stabilized in the 70–90 range, yielding ranks in the mid-800s. While isolated instances appear in the national data as early as the 1930s, the curve remains low-frequency, underscoring the name’s niche appeal. Pronunciation varies slightly by region—meh-RAY-də prevailing in British English and meh-REE-də in American speech—yet in either form Merida offers parents a succinct, three-syllable choice that blends classical etymology, Hispanic geographic heritage, and a modern cinematic heroine, all without sacrificing phonetic clarity or orthographic simplicity.