| Carmen | Mercedes | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | garden / Mount Carmel | Mercies |
| Origin | spanish | Spanish |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | KAR-men | mer-SEH-dess |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1881 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 1960 (2,440) | 1991 (1,798) |
| In 2025 | 798 | 150 |
| Trend | Declining | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Carmen | Mercedes |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 4,381 | 1,025 |
| 2010s | 8,556 | 2,950 |
| 2000s | 12,217 | 8,454 |
| 1990s | 11,158 | 15,291 |
| 1980s | 12,624 | 4,410 |
| 1970s | 17,873 | 1,985 |
| 1960s | 22,888 | 1,699 |
| 1950s | 18,953 | 1,741 |
| 1940s | 10,692 | 1,368 |
| 1930s | 8,569 | 1,858 |
| 1920s | 9,180 | 2,828 |
| 1910s | 4,104 | 1,767 |
| 1900s | 1,040 | 530 |
| 1890s | 419 | 226 |
| 1880s | 141 | 74 |
A Marian devotional name from the title 'María del Carmen', Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Carmel comes from the Hebrew karmel 'garden, orchard, vineyard'. By coincidence the identical Latin word carmen means 'song, poem', which has reinforced the name's appeal.
Mercedes means “mercies,” from Our Lady of Mercy.
Carmen is more popular than Mercedes today: about 798 US babies were given the name Carmen in 2025, compared with 150 named Mercedes.
Carmen means garden / Mount Carmel (spanish origin), while Mercedes means Mercies (Spanish origin).
In US records, Carmen first appears in 1881 and Mercedes in 1880, so Mercedes has the longer recorded history.