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It's pretty corny, and it seems weird to give your child an adverb for a name.

I went to school with a Merilee (accent on "Mer" / (i) / "Lee", or, on the first and third syllables. Her name seemed perfectly distinct but nothing too unusual.

I can't look at it without hearing the lyrics of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in my head.

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It works in that people would recognize it and be able to pronounce it, but it seems singsongy (and a little ridiculous) to me.

This message was edited 1/4/2019, 8:32 AM

I like it, but as far as it working, I don't know. Some people will assume it's Mary Lee and those who don't assume that will ask how it's spelled. I think it would be a headache. Maybe worth it, though.

No, and no.

An adverb is just a really weird part of speech to make into a name. It sounds very incomplete. An adjective could be assumed to be describing the bearer of the name, but what's Merrily modifying? Merrily what? Sounds silly, too.

To me it does not work. It looks deliberately spelled as a word, and an adverb is pretty confusing as a name. Like Sunnily or Gaily ... weird.
If it were just spelled differently, I think it would work, though.
Marilee is the usual but there would be a jillion options. I'd like spelling it Merelie.