Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".Melas, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon''
at Perseus project 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, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel ''Gone With the Wind (novel), Gone with t ...

's 1936 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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

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 primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in 2004.

People named Melanie

* Melanie Blake, English talent agent and author * Melanie Blatt (born 1975), British singer, member of All Saints * Melanie le Brocquy (1919–2018), Irish sculptor * Melanie Brown (Mel B) (born 1975), British singer and member of the Spice Girls * Melanie Chisholm (Melanie C) (born 1974), British singer and member of the Spice Girls *

Melanie Clewlow Melanie "Mel" Clewlow (born 7 May 1976 in Dover, Kent) is an English field hockey player. She was a member of the England and Great Britain squads. She made her international debut in 1996, and was part of the England squad that won silve ...

(born 1976), English hockey defender * Melanie Counsell (born 1964), Welsh filmmaker, installation artist and sculptor *

Melanie Doane Melanie Doane is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and music educator. Early years Daughter of J. Chalmers Doane, a music educator and member of the Order of Canada, Doane learned many instruments at a young age, including piano, bass guit ...

(born 1967), Canadian singer * Melanie Fiona (born 1983), Canadian singer * Melanie Fontana (born 1986), American singer *

Melanie Wade Goodwin Melanie Wade Goodwin (July 22, 1970 – September 1, 2020) was an American politician who served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 66th district as a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first member of the North ...

(1970–2020), American politician * Melanie Griffith (born 1957), American actress * Melanie Hahnemann (1800–1878), homeopath * Melanie Hall (1970–2004), English murder victim *

Melanie Hall (basketball) Melanie Hall (born 11 January 1977) is a wheelchair basketball player from Australia. She is a paraplegic as a result of a motor vehicle accident. She was part of the bronze medal-winning Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team ...

, Australian athlete *

Sister Mary Melanie Holliday Sister Mary Melanie Holliday (born Martha Ann "Mattie" Holliday; December 14, 1850 - April 19, 1939) was an American Catholic nun. As a member of the Sisters of Mercy, she served as Mother Superior at the Convent and Academy of St. Vincent de P ...

(1850-1939), American Catholic nun *

Melanie Jans Melanie Jans (born July 3, 1973) is a Canadian professional female squash player who represented Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocea ...

(born 1973), Canadian squash player *

Melanie Johnson Melanie Jane Johnson (born 5 February 1955) is a Labour politician in the United Kingdom. Early life Johnson was born in Ipswich. She attended the Independent Clifton High School in Clifton, Bristol. Leaving Bristol for London, she studied ...

(born 1955), British politician *

Melanie Klaffner Melanie Klaffner (; born 22 May 1990) is an Austrian tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis r ...

(born 1990), Austrian tennis player *

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

(1882–1960), Austrian-born British 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 S ...

(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 Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

(born 1977), New Zealand actress * Melanie Martinez (born 1972), American actress * Melanie Martinez (singer) (born 1995), American singer-songwriter *

Melanie Mayron Melanie Joy Mayron is an American actress and director of film and television. Mayron is best known for her role as photographer Melissa Steadman on the ABC drama ''thirtysomething'' for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...

(born 1952), American actress * Melanie McFadyean, British journalist * Melanie McGuire (born 1972), American criminal who murdered her husband, dismembered his body and put it into suitcases * Melanie Merkosky (born 1986), Canadian actress * Melanie Nolan (born 1960), New Zealand historian * Melanie Phillips (born 1951), British journalist * Melanie Safka (born 1947), American singer/songwriter born Melanie Anne Safka, professionally known as Melanie * Melanie South (born 1986), British tennis player * Melanie Stabel (born 1999), German sport shooter * Melanie Stansbury (born 1979), American politician and scientist * Melanie Thornton (1967–2001), American pop singer *

Melanie Weisner Melanie Weisner (born September 30, 1986) is an American professional poker player. She is also known by her PokerStars online screen name Callisto 5. Poker Online poker Born in Houston, Texas, Weisner studied vocal performance at New York Un ...

(born 1986), American professional poker player

People named Mélanie

Mélanie is a feminine French given name. Notable people with the name include: * Mélanie Bernier (b. 1985), French actress *

Mélanie Bonis Mélanie Hélène Bonis, known as Mel Bonis (21 January 1858 – 18 March 1937), was a prolific French late-Romantic composer. She wrote more than 300 pieces, including works for piano solo and four hands, organ pieces, chamber music, ''mélodies'' ...

(1858–1937), French composer * Mélanie Calvat (1831–1904), French nun *

Mélanie Cohl Mélanie Cohl represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 after winning the national final selection with the song "Dis oui". Before Eurovision Finale Nationale Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 1998 The final took place on 13 Mar ...

(b. 1982), Belgian singer * Mélanie Doutey, French actress * Mélanie Laurent (b. 1983), French actress and director * Mélanie de Pourtalès (1836–1914), French salonnière and courtier *

Mélanie Turgeon Mélanie Turgeon (born October 21, 1976, in Alma, Quebec) is a skier and former member of the Canadian national ski team. A member of the Mont Ste. Anne ski club, Turgeon joined the Canadian national ski team in 1992 at the age of only sixteen. ...

(b. 1976), Canadian skier

Fictional characters

* Melanie Barnett, a character from the television series ''

The Game The Game or The Games may refer to: Sports and games * The Game (dice game) (German: ''Das Spiel''), a dice game designed by Reinhold Wittig * The Game (mind game), a mind game, the objective of which is to avoid thinking about The Game itself * ...

'' * Melanie Bush, a character in the television series '' Doctor Who'' * Melanie Hamilton, a character in the novel '' Gone with the Wind'' * 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 streams on the streaming service Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. The soap, which aired on ...

'' * Melanie Marcus, a character in the television series ''Queer as Folk'' * Melanie Stryder, a character from the book '' The Host'' by

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; née Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire romance series ''Twilight'', which has sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 differ ...

* Melanie Walker, a character from ''

Batman Beyond ''Batman Beyond'' (known as ''Batman of the Future'' outside the United States) is an American superhero animated television series developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in collaborati ...

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 German feminine given names Dutch feminine given names Welsh feminine given names

People named Melanie

People named Mélanie

Fictional characters

See also

References