The Baby Name Wizard

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Comments and insights on the name Merit: | Edit

Merit is more commonly seen as a male name, but it fits the pattern of virtue names that are traditionally female (e.g. Hope, Faith, Charity).

Personal experiences with the name Merit: | Edit

My daughter (b. 2009) has this as a middle name.
Merit is my first name. I was born in 1962 in Helsinki, Finland. My parents were reading Sinuhe The Egyptian by Mika Waltari (a finnish author) when they were expecting me! I just found out that in Egypt the name means beloved. But listen to this: I have two paternal aunts -- one is Meri (means ocean or sea in Finnish) and Maarit (this is a name common to the sami people of Lapland (denotes an ethnic region which spans nothern Finland, Sweden and Norway). So my parents probably thought that the name was perfect, combining the the aunts' names and evoking a central character in the novel; Merit was the beloved of the main character, an Egyptian doctor, Sinuhe. Oh and my mother is from Norway. Now, what I have left to do is to go find a copy of the movie, The Egyptian, which I didn't know existed before I stumbled on this site.

Nicknames for Merit: | Edit

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Meanings and history of the name Merit: | Edit

Merit: from the latin merere - to earn, deserve. Character or conduct deserving reward, honor or esteem, also: achievement.

Merit is also an Egyptian name, it means "beloved", it was also used a part of a name as in the case of an Egyptian princess, Meritaten, which meant "Beloved of Aten".

Famous real-life people named Merit: | Edit

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Merit in song, story & screen: | Edit

Merit is also a character in the story of Sinuhe the Egyptian by Mika Waltari, which was made into the Hollywood film "The Egyptian" in 1954. Merit is one of the main characters of the story.