# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/merritt-ruhlen
# Generated: 2026-08-15T02:18:40.246Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/merritt-ruhlen"
name: "Merritt Ruhlen"
slug: "merritt-ruhlen"
description: "Merritt Ruhlen was an American linguist who worked on the classification of languages and what this reveals about the origin and evolution of modern humans. Amongst other linguists, Ruhlen's work was recognized as standing outside the mainstream of comparative-historical linguistics. He was the principal advocate and defender of Joseph Greenberg's approach to language classification."
tagline: "American linguist (1944–2021)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Merritt_Ruhlen.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1944-05-10"
deathDate: "2021-01-29"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           45.65
  momentum:             0
  historical:           12.68815866666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%2C_%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%82"
    title: "Рулен, Мерритт"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AA_%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%87%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86"
    title: "ميريت روهلين"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AA_%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%87%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86"
    title: "ميريت روهلين"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B1%DB%8C%DB%8C%D8%AA_%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%87%D9%84%D9%86"
    title: "مرییت روهلن"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%98_%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%9F"
    title: "מריט רולן"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AC%E3%83%B3"
    title: "メリット・ルーレン"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Ruhlen"
    title: "Merritt Ruhlen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1922057"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump