Mercy

See also: mercy

English

Etymology 1

From mercy in the 17th century; one of the less common Puritan virtue names. In modern use sometimes used to anglicize Spanish Mercedes.

Proper noun

Mercy

1. A female given name from English.
   • 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 2, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:

     Mr Pecksniff was a moral man — a grave man, a man of noble sentiments and speech — and he had had her christened Mercy. Mercy! oh, what a charming name for such a pure–souled Being as the youngest Miss Pecksniff! Her sister’s name was Charity. There was a good thing! Mercy and Charity!

Related terms

• Mercedes
• Merry

Translations

female given name

• Spanish: Mercedes (es) (roughly equivalent)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French Mercy.

Proper noun

Mercy (plural Mercys)

1. A surname from French.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Mercy is the 38484^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 575 individuals. Mercy is most common among White (55.48%) and Black/African American (39.83%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Mercy”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 577.

Tagalog

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Mercy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeɾsi/, [ˈmɛɾ.sɪ]
• Hyphenation: Mer‧cy

Proper noun

Mercy (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜇ᜔ᜐᜒ)

1. a female given name from English