Merida is from the Spanish city *Mérida* in Extremadura — itself from Latin *Augusta Emerita*, founded 25 BCE for retired Roman soldiers (*emeriti*, "those who have earned"). **Princess Merida — the protagonist of Pixar's *Brave* (2012) — is Pixar's first lead female protagonist and the first Disney princess who does not have a romantic interest**; voiced by Kelly Macdonald. **Brave won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the Golden Globe**; set in the Scottish Highlands, **Merida is also Disney's first redheaded princess and the first to be inspired by Scottish folklore and the legends of the Picts**. **Her bow-and-arrow archery skills and her refusal to be promised in marriage make her a feminist landmark in animated film**. **The name has charted in US records since 2012**.
Subject of countless 2010s animation studies.
Merida reduces to four — the number of first Pixar princess.