How Do You Feel About Your Name, Merit?

“I can’t imagine having another name” says Merit, a 16-year-old from the U.S. “I’d give it a 10 out of 10!”

How did Merit get her unique name?

I’d almost died when I was born–I was three months premature and weighed four pounds and had a hole in my heart–and my parents had tried for so long to have a kid that I was going to be their one and only (and I am!)–and so they said that I survived on “my own merit.”

Merit’s name came directly from the word merit, which is derived from the Latin word meritum and can be defined as “character or conduct deserving reward, honor, or esteem.” Her name has never ranked among the most popular U.S. baby names.

What does Merit like about her name?

Well, nobody forgets my name easily. People stop me all the time to tell me that it’s pretty and unique; my grade has close to 700 people in it, but the librarian remembers me and always asks me to tell her the story of how I got it. I think it’s good, too, because it has a definite meaning in the real world. It’s not “trendy” and it’s not hard to pronounce.

What does Merit not like about her name?

People think “Merit” is short for “Meredith”…or they hear incorrectly and think my name is “Mary.”

Thanks so much, Merit!

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