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Merida

Girl name · 61 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Merida: 61 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 7 births in 2013.

Merida is a Spanish place name, derived from the city Mérida in Extremadura, which itself traces back to the Latin Augusta Emerita, meaning "the merited one" or "rewarded" – a title granted to retired Roman soldiers. The name gained widespread recognition in Scotland after the 2012 Disney animated film *Brave*, whose fierce, red-haired heroine Merida became a modern icon of independence and archery. This fictional princess, set in a mythical Scottish kingdom, propelled the name onto Scottish birth charts for the first time in the 2010s. While there are no widely known historical bearers, the name shares its etymological root with the city of Mérida in Spain, as well as with the former Roman name Emerita Augusta. As a given name, Merida is sometimes considered a creative variant of Meredith, though the two have distinct linguistic origins.