Mercy

English word name
"compassion"

Mercy Origin and Meaning

The name Mercy is a girl's name of English origin meaning "compassion".

The quality of mercy makes this lovely Puritan virtue name a quiet favorite today. Although it was most popular in the late nineteenth century, Mercy is on its way to a comeback -- it rose 143 spots between 2012 and 2013, making it one of the year's fastest-rising names. Right now, it's still stylish and distinctive, a rare and wonderful combination.

Mercy is one of the characters with allegorical names in John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress, and Mercy Pecksniff appears in Dickens's novel Martin Chuzzlewit with the nickname Merry. Mercy Lewis, in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, was based on a real-life person, a witness at the Salem witch trials. Another historic Mercy is Mercy Warren, Revolutionary period patriot and writer of plays, books and poetry.

Comic/sidekick Andy Richter, when he named his daughter Mercy, joked, "Just in case Puritanism comes back, we'll be ready with a real Puritan name"; Madonna renamed her Malawi-born daughter Mercy James. As a word name and modern virtue name, it's one of the most fashionable English names for girls.

# 833 in the US

Mercy Rank in US Top 1000

# 726 on Nameberry

Mercy Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Mercy Popularity

Famous People Named Mercy

  • Mercy Otis Warren
    American writer and propagandist of the American Revolution
  • Mercy Fiennes
    Tiffin, English actress
  • Mercy Aigbe Gentry
    Nigerian actress
  • Mercy Johnson
    Nigerian actress
  • Mercy Akide
    Nigerian footballer
  • Mercy Lewis
    figure in the Salem witch trials; portrayed in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"
  • Mercy Brown
    American girl exhumed on suspicion of being a vampire in 1892
  • Mercy Josephine Richter (b. 2005)
    daughter of comedian Andy Richter
  • Chifundo "Mercy" James (b. 2006)
    daughter of Madonna
  • Mercy Diaz (b. 2010)
    daughter of comedian Joey Diaz
  • Mercy Morgan (b. 2019)
    dauhgter of actress Emily Rose

Mercy in Pop Culture

  • Mercy Merrick
    character in The New Magdalen (1873) by Wilkie Collins
  • Mercy Pecksniff
    character in "Martin Chuzzlewit"
  • Mercy
    character in "A Pilgrim's Progress"
  • Mercy Lewis
    character in "The Crucible"
  • Mercy Wood
    character in "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"
  • Mercy
    intended name of Adrian & Ben's daughter ("The Secret Life of an American Teenager") until Adrian later miscarried
  • Mercy Watson
    pig character in children's book series by Kate DiCamillo
  • Mercy
    minor character in "Orange is the New Black" (Big Boo's Ex)
  • Mercy Graves
    bodyguard and assistant to Lex Luthor in DC Comics
  • Mercy
    a Swiss doctor/healer character in the video game Overwatch, otherwise known as Angela Ziegler
  • Mercy
    baby on TV's "7th Heaven"
  • Mercy
    character in the movie The Witch (2016)
  • Mercy Carter
    character in "The Ransom of Mercy Carter"
  • Mercy Thompson
    Hauptman, main character in Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
  • Mercy
    character in film "The Warriors"