Maralyn
An English feminine name derived from French, meaning "star of the sea".
Name Census estimates that about 482 living Americans carry the first name Maralyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maralyn today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maralyn births was 1938 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maralyn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Maralyn is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Maralyns were born before 1969.
People living today
482
~ 1 in 711,109 Americans
Peak year
1938
64 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,711
Tracked since 1917
Popularity
Maralyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maralyn from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 416 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maralyn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Maralyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maralyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, Ohio, Illinois recorded the most babies named Maralyn, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maralyn
The name Maralyn is an English variant of the name Marilyn, which is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Maria or Miriam. This name has its roots in the Biblical figure Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. The Hebrew name Miriam likely meant "bitter" or "beloved," while Maria is the Latin form of the name.
In its earliest recorded use, the name Maralyn emerged as a creative spelling variation of Marilyn during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It gained popularity as a distinct name in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Maralyn was Maralyn Lois Sahakian (1921-2007), an American artist and sculptor. She was born in Detroit, Michigan, and gained recognition for her abstract expressionist works and public art installations.
Maralyn Polak (1935-2013) was a notable American writer and journalist. She authored several books on parenting and family life, including "The Pampered Child Syndrome" and "The Privileged Ones." Polak's work focused on the challenges of raising children in affluent families.
Maralyn Dreschnack (1942-2008) was a Canadian artist and painter known for her vibrant landscapes and portraiture. Her works were widely exhibited in galleries across Canada and the United States.
Maralyn Dennis (born 1939) is an American actress and singer who gained fame in the 1960s for her roles on Broadway and in television shows like "The Patty Duke Show" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour."
Maralyn Woodruff (born 1939) is an American actress best known for her roles in television series such as "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie." She has had a prolific career spanning over six decades in film, television, and theater.
These are a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Maralyn. While not an extremely common name, it has been used across various fields, including the arts, literature, and entertainment, often as a unique variation of the more traditional Marilyn.
People
Maralyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maralyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Maralyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maralyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 482 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maralyn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 711,109 US residents.
Is Maralyn a common name?
We classify Maralyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,319 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maralyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Maralyn was 1938, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maralyn is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Maralyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maralyn in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.