Variant of Muriel, from Irish 'muir' (sea) and 'geal' (bright), meaning 'bright sea.'
Meryl is a modern variant of the older name Muriel, which in turn descends from the Irish Muirgheal, a compound of muir (sea) and geal (bright) — meaning, beautifully, "bright as the sea." The name traveled from Gaelic into Norman French and then into English during the medieval period, becoming one of the standard feminine names of the Middle Ages before gradually fading from fashion. Its revival in the twentieth century came partly through the diminutive and respelling impulse that transformed many older names into fresher-seeming forms.
The name's cultural life in the modern era is inseparable from Meryl Streep, born Mary Louise Streep in 1949, who adopted the nickname Meryl professionally and went on to become the most decorated actor in Academy Award history. Her three Oscar wins and record twenty-one nominations transformed the name from an obscure variant into something closely identified with supreme professional excellence and artistic range. When people invoke "a Meryl Streep performance" they mean something nearly synonymous with mastery — a shorthand that has naturally burnished the name itself.
Beyond the obvious association, Meryl carries genuine phonetic grace: the soft initial consonant, the liquid middle, the quiet close give it an unhurried, self-possessed sound. It was modestly popular through the 1960s and 1970s in the United States and has remained in quiet, consistent use without ever becoming a trend name. That stability has its own appeal — a generation of women named Meryl has never had to share a classroom with five others of the same name, a rarity that only adds to the name's distinction.