Explore the Family Name Merlet
The meaning of Merlet
French: derivative of merle ‘blackbird’ (see Merle). Compare Marlette. History: Gédéon Merlet/Marlet from Roussy-le-Village in Moselle, France, married Margriet Martijn in Leiden, the Netherlands, in 1644, died in Piscataway, NJ, c.1682. In 1662 they emigrated to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in New Netherland (now New York City, NY). Gédéon’s name is listed (as Gidéon Merlet) in the (US) National Huguenot Society’s register of qualified Huguenot ancestors.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Merlet in the United States?
The surname Merlet saw a slight increase in popularity in the United States between 2000 and 2010, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, Merlet ranked 135,837th in popularity, with 114 instances of the name recorded. By 2010, it had risen to 133,863rd place and the number of people with this surname had increased by 10.53% to 126. However, its proportion per 100,000 people remained unchanged at 0.04.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #135,837 | #133,863 | 1.45% |
| Count | 114 | 126 | 10.53% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Merlet
The ethnic identity associated with the Merlet surname also shifted during this decade, based on the information provided by the Decennial U.S. Census. The percentage of Merlets who identified as White rose from 73.68% in 2000 to 80.16% in 2010. There were also small increases in the number of Merlets identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (5.56%) and Hispanic (3.97%). However, the proportion of those identifying as Black decreased significantly from 19.30% to 9.52%. The census showed no Merlets identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year, and the data for those identifying with two or more races was suppressed in 2010.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 73.68% | 80.16% | 8.79% |
| Black | 19.3% | 9.52% | -50.67% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 5.56% | 0% |
| Hispanic | 0% | 3.97% | 0% |
| Two or More Races | 5.26% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |