After years of lukewarm responses to names, my husband has decided his top choice is Merit (for either a boy or a girl). I didn’t see this coming! Here’s my current pros/cons list, what am I missing?
Pros: Virtue name (we’re also considering Constance), connection to the name Marjorie/Margaret (family name), similar in sound to my top choice (Mary), five letters long (arbitrary, but we like names around that length)
Cons: Multiple spellings (Merit, Merritt, Marit), very uncommon (could require extra explanation), potentially cringe-y for a name nerd’s kid (I don’t want to assign my hobbies to my kid’s identity)
One other thing - the baby will have my last name, so I wanted my husband to have more say in the first/middle names. I’m honestly impressed that he’s found a name he likes so much (after years of suggesting his own middle name for everything).
Honesty needed! The baby’s not here yet, we got some time.
I don’t see it this way. I really like the name. I think it would be great for a boy or a girl, depending on the middle name you pair it with. Any name you choose could have multiple spellings, so I wouldn’t make that a con for this specific name. While not common, it is familiar in sound. Also, not to discredit your pro/con list, but your husband loves the name, which should be one of the most important factors.
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I really adore the name Merit! In my family, Merit is a middle names that’s been passed down for generations. Two of my cousins share this middle— a girl called Lyla Merit and a boy called Jack Merit.
I think it’s spunky and smart, works beautifully on a girl or a boy, and would make and excellent first name! I also adore nn Merry. 
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I really like it for a boy!
I’m having a hard time seeing it on a girl.
It comes of misspelled to me visually, I’m team [name_u]Merritt[/name_u] as a default.
[name_u]Merit[/name_u] has been on my list for years, I absolutely adore it. 
I love the nickname [name_u]Merry[/name_u] for a boy, I think it is so sweet! It’s all pros to me, no cons. 
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One of the best female examples I can come up with, though spelled differently, is the now [name_f]Princess[/name_f] Mette-Marit of Norway.
I think [name_u]Merit[/name_u] would be very cool to see on a boy or a girl. It’s easy to spell and pronounce while also being very original. If you and your husband both love it, you should use it!
[name_u]Merit[/name_u] is fabulous. Such as cool sounding name while also having a nice softness
I like [name_u]Merit[/name_u] a lot! And I prefer this spelling the best, but I tend to always prefer the simplest spelling possible. And if [name_f]Mary[/name_f] (Merry) is your top name you could definitely use it as a nickname for [name_u]Merit[/name_u].
I really like it! I happen to prefer the spelling [name_u]Merritt[/name_u], particularly for a boy, but I think the name is great for any gender and choosing to spell [name_u]Merit[/name_u] doesn’t seem to me like it would be much of a problem especially since that’s the spelling of the actual word. If you love it, go for it!