Mel
A girls’ name of Latin origin, meaning honey; diminutive of melissa or melanie.
Babies a year
6
the US, 2017
Rarity
Very rare
among names in use
US popularity
—
outside the top 1000
UK popularity
—
outside the ONS list
Mel by the numbers
Mel was given to 6 American babies in 2017, the most recent full year we hold.
Its American peak was 120 babies in 1958, so it is a 1950s name that has since fallen a long way.
Spelled almost the same
Other names in the records within a letter or two of Mel. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.
- Meibeautiful; plum blossom13 in England and Wales (2025)
- Melagathering, fair, or assembly10 in England and Wales (2025)
- Melesong or chant13 in the US (2017)
- Melihoney; a form of Melissa or Melina3 in England and Wales (2025)
- Megpearl; a diminutive of Margaret7 in the US (2017)
- Mielhoney6 in the US (2017)
Other names that mean a bee
Like Mel, each of these has a bee in its meaning. Different names, different histories, the same idea.
- Melissahoney bee1,168 in the US (2017)
- Melinahoney; form of Melissa or Melina486 in the US (2017)
- Deborahbee68 in England and Wales (2025)
- Honeysweet substance made by bees253 in England and Wales (2025)
- Pamelaall honey; literary coinage by Philip Sidney153 in the US (2017)
- Melindahoney; a blend of Melissa and Belinda128 in the US (2017)