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