Marcelina
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "little wondrous wanderer".
Name Census estimates that about 2,285 living Americans carry the first name Marcelina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marcelina today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marcelina births was 2024 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marcelina. 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.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 150,002 Americans
Peak year
2024
62 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,757
Tracked since 1892
Popularity
Marcelina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marcelina from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 379 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Marcelina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marcelina 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 Marcelina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marcelinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, California, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Marcelina, while Michigan, Hawaii, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 196 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marcelina
Marcelina is a feminine given name derived from the Latin name Marcellinus, which itself is a diminutive form of the Roman family name Marcellus. The name Marcellus is thought to be an Italic name, potentially stemming from the Roman god Mars or the Latin word "marcere," meaning "to be withered."
The name Marcelina likely originated in the early Christian era when Latin names were widespread across Europe. It was initially used as a feminine variant of the masculine name Marcellinus, which was borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs, including Saint Marcellinus, a 4th-century Pope and martyr.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marcelina can be found in the 6th-century hagiography of Saint Marcelina, a Roman noblewoman and sister of Saint Ambrose, the famous bishop of Milan. She is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church for her piety and charitable works.
In the Middle Ages, the name Marcelina continued to be used in Catholic regions of Europe, particularly in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Notable historical figures bearing this name include Marcelina Desbordes-Valmore (1786-1859), a French poet and playwright, and Marcelina de Aramburu y Almadóvar (1828-1901), a Spanish writer and feminist.
During the Renaissance and Early Modern periods, the name Marcelina gained popularity across Europe, especially in Catholic countries. One notable bearer was Marcelina Zawadzka (1631-1701), a Polish noble and landowner who founded several churches and monasteries.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the name Marcelina was still relatively common in parts of Europe, particularly in Spain, Italy, and Latin America. Some notable historical figures include Marcelina Gutiérrez (1844-1931), a Mexican educator and feminist activist, and Marcelina Dauden (1842-1914), a Spanish writer and journalist.
Throughout its history, the name Marcelina has been associated with themes of strength, resilience, and devotion, likely stemming from its early Christian origins and the lives of notable historical figures who bore the name.
People
Marcelina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marcelina 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
Marcelina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marcelina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,285 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marcelina 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 150,002 US residents.
Is Marcelina a common name?
We classify Marcelina as "Rare". It ranks above 94.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,360 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marcelina most popular?
The single biggest year for Marcelina was 2024, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marcelina is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Marcelina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marcelina 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.