Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".Melas, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon''
at the

Perseus Digital Library The Perseus Digital Library, formerly known as the Perseus Project, is a free-access digital library founded by Gregory Crane in 1987 and hosted by the Department of Classical Studies of Tufts University. One of the pioneers of digital libraries, ...

Borne in its Latin form by two saints, Melania the Elder and her granddaughter Melania the Younger,Behind the Name
/ref> the name was introduced to England by the Normans in its French form ''Melanie''. However, the name only became common in English usage in the 1930s because of the popularity of

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel that was published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel ''Gone With the Wind (novel), Gone ...

's 1936 novel ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'' and its 1939 film adaptation, as one of the novel's main characters was named Melanie Hamilton. The name's popularity increased until the 1970s, since remaining constant. Melanie was the 80th most popular name for girls born in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1957 and, as Mélanie, it was the 86th most popular name for girls born in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 2004.

People named Melanie

Melanie Amaro Melanie Ann Amaro (born June 26, 1992) is an American singer who won the first season of '' The X Factor USA'' in 2011, securing a $5 million recording contract with Syco Music and Epic Records. Amaro was also the youngest contestant to win the ...

(born 1992), American singer * Melanie Blake, English talent agent and author * Melanie Blatt (born 1975), English singer and member of All Saints * Melanie le Brocquy (1919–2018), Irish sculptor * Melanie Brown (born 1975), English singer and member of

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

* Melanie L. Campbell, American voting rights activist * Melanie Chisholm (born 1974), English singer and member of

* Melanie Clewlow (born 1976), English hockey defender * Melanie Counsell (born 1964), Welsh filmmaker, sculptor, and installation artist * Melanie Doane (born 1967), Canadian singer * Melanie Eusebe (born 1977), English author and entrepreneur * Melanie Fiona (born 1983), Canadian singer * Melanie Fontana (born 1986), American singer * Melanie Wade Goodwin (1970–2020), American politician * Mélanie Gourarier, French social anthropologist * Melanie Griffith (born 1957), American actress * Melanie Hall (1970–2004), English murder victim * Melanie Hall (basketball) (born 1977), Australian basketball player * Sister Mary Melanie Holliday (1850–1939), American Catholic nun * Melanie Jans (born 1973), Canadian squash player * Melanie Johnson (born 1955), English politician * Melanie Klaffner (born 1990), Austrian tennis player *

Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...

(1882–1960), Austrian–English psychoanalyst *

Melanie Kreis Melanie Kreis (born 1971) is a German businesswoman, member of the board of managing directors and the chief financial officer (CFO) of Deutsche Post, the world's largest logistics company, since October 2016. Education Kreis attended the Sta ...

(born 1971), German businesswoman * Melanie Lambert (born 1974), American adagio and pair skater * Melanie Leslie (born 1961), dean of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law * Melanie Lynskey (born 1977), New Zealand actress * Melanie Martinez (actress) (born 1972), American actress * Melanie Martinez (singer) (born 1995), American singer and songwriter * Melanie Marquez (born 1964), Filipina beauty queen * Melanie Mayron (born 1952), American actress * Melanie McFadyean (1950–2023), English journalist * Melanie McGuire (born 1972), American nurse and murderer * Melanie Melanson (born 1974), a missing teenager from Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts since 1989 * Melanie Merkosky (born 1986), Canadian actress * Melanie Mikoy (born 2000), American soccer player * Melanie Nolan (born 1960), New Zealand historian * Melanie Harrison Okoro (born 1982), American environmental scientist * Melanie Oudin (born 1991), American tennis player * Melanie Paxson (born 1972), American actress *

Melanie Phillips Melanie Phillips (born 4 June 1951) is a British public commentator. She began her career writing for ''The Guardian'' and ''New Statesman''. During the 1990s, she came to identify with ideas more associated with right-wing politics and the far ...

(born 1951), English author and journalist * Melanie Safka (1947–2024), American singer-songwriter often credited as just "Melanie" * Melanie Scrofano, Canadian actress * Melanie South (born 1986), English tennis player * Melanie Stabel (born 1999), German sport shooter *

Melanie Stansbury Melanie Ann Stansbury (born January 31, 1979) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from New Mexico's 1st congressional district since 2021 New Mexico's 1st congressional district sp ...

(born 1979), American politician and scientist * Melanie Stinnett, American politician *

Melanie Thornton Melanie Janene Thornton (May 13, 1967 – November 24, 2001) was an American pop and dance music singer. She was the lead singer of the Eurodance group La Bouche from 1994 to 1999, alongside American rapper and backing vocalist Lane McCray. ...

(1967–2001), American singer * Melanie Weisner (born 1986), American professional poker player * Melanie D. Wilson, American academic administrator and law professor

People named Mélanie

Mélanie is a feminine French given name. Notable people with the name include: * Mélanie Bernier (born 1985), French actress * Mélanie Bonis (1858–1937), French composer * Mélanie Calvat (1831–1904), French nun * Mélanie Cohl (born 1982), Belgian singer * Mélanie Doutey, French actress * Mélanie Hahnemann (1800–1878), French homeopathic physician * Mélanie Laurent (born 1983), French actress and director * Mélanie de Pourtalès (1836–1914), French salonnière and courtier * Mélanie Turgeon (born 1976), Canadian skier

Fictional characters

* Melanie Barnett, a character from the television series '' The Game'' * Melanie Bush, a character in the television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' * Melanie Daniels, a character in the film '' The Birds'' * Melanie Hamilton, a character in the novel ''

'' * Melanie Jonas, a former character on the American soap opera ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' * Melanie Porter, one of the two leads in the Walt Disney Pictures film '' College Road Trip'' played by Raven-Symoné * Melanie Marcus, a character in the television series ''Queer as Folk'' * Melanie Puckett, twin sister of Sam Puckett in the TV series ''

iCarly ''iCarly'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider, which originally aired on Nickelodeon from September 8, 2007, to November 23, 2012. The series tells the story of Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), a teenager who creates and hosts ...

'' * Melanie Stryder, a character from the book '' The Host'' by

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...

* Melanie Walker, a character from ''

Batman Beyond ''Batman Beyond'' (also known as ''Batman of the Future'' in Europe) is an American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, and serving as the sequel to both '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and '' The New Ba ...

References

{{given name English feminine given names Given names of Greek language origin Scottish feminine given names Irish feminine given names French feminine given names Feminine given names German feminine given names Dutch feminine given names Welsh feminine given names

People named Melanie

People named Mélanie

Fictional characters

See also

References