Marcellia
Feminine form of the Latin name Marcellus, meaning "little warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 22 living Americans carry the first name Marcellia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marcellia today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marcellia births was 1924 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marcellia. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Marcellia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
22
~ 1 in 15,579,743 Americans
Peak year
1924
6 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1974 SSA rank
#8,297
Tracked since 1924
Popularity
Marcellia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marcellia from the 1920s through to the 1970s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Marcellia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marcellia 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 Marcellia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marcellia
Marcellia is a feminine given name that originates from the Ancient Roman family name Marcellus. The name Marcellus is a diminutive form of the Latin name Marcus, which derives from the Roman god Mars, the god of war. The suffix "-ia" was commonly added to Roman names to create feminine versions.
The name Marcellus can be traced back to the 4th century BC, when it was borne by members of the prestigious Claudian family in Ancient Rome. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a Roman consul and general who lived from around 268 BC to 208 BC. He achieved fame for his military victories during the Second Punic War against Carthage.
In the Christian tradition, Marcellina was a 4th-century saint and the sister of St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. She is venerated as the patron saint of the poor and destitute. The name Marcellina is a variant of Marcellia, with the same root origin.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Marcellia can be found in the 6th century AD, when a woman named Marcellia was mentioned in the writings of Gregory of Tours, a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marcellia. These include Marcellia Sembrich (1858-1935), a Polish operatic soprano who performed in operas composed by Verdi and Puccini. Another notable Marcellia was Marcellia Stringer (1909-1988), an American psychologist and educator who worked to promote diversity and inclusion in higher education.
Other historical figures with the name Marcellia include Marcellia Bolivar (1825-1900), a Venezuelan writer and poet; Marcellia Araújo (1859-1939), a Brazilian educator and feminist; and Marcellia Menaguale (1887-1964), an Italian-American labor activist and community organizer in New York City.
People
Marcellia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marcellia 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
Marcellia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marcellia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marcellia 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 15,579,743 US residents.
Is Marcellia a common name?
We classify Marcellia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 41.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 37 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marcellia most popular?
The single biggest year for Marcellia was 1924, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marcellia is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Marcellia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marcellia 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.