When Mere Foloi Moalele Tuiletufuga was born on 29 November 1935, in Sapapalii, Samoa, her father, Uipo Moalele Tuiletufuga, was 23 and her mother, Susana Papalii, was 20. She died on 2 February 1954, in Sapapalii, Samoa, at the age of 18.
Probably a contracted form of Meriel , but also associated with the small class of girls' names derived from birds, since it is identical in form with Old French merle ‘blackbird’ (Latin merula). The name came to public notice in the 1930s with the actress Merle Oberon ( 1911–79 , born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson ).
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