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I was at school with a girl Merlin. I thought it was inappropriate.

If I had a dog that looked like it had a beard like a Schnauzer, I'd name him Merlin.

I like it! I had to see it on a couple of real life people before I took it seriously as a name and not just a wizard or a falcon, and it still sounds too 'old' for a baby's first name to me, but it's cool.

Don't like it

I recently discovered that this was the surname of one of my (very far back) ancestors - a French surname, so, not said the same way, but still, Merlin! That made it more interesting to me. I guess I had dismissed Merlin as an almost cartoonish name, having only one dimension to it. But knowing that it was a surname used in other cultures and not just a storybook character makes it more fun, somehow.

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I've known more than one cat named Merlin, so it has very cat-like energy to me.

Merlin makes a good name for a horse or even a cat. I wouldn't personally use it on a child in real life, even as a middle name. It makes an ok character name, but probably too associated with Arthurian tales to be able to be used as another main character in something new, maybe a side character though.