Marcellina
Feminine diminutive form of the Latin masculine name Marcellus meaning "little warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 240 living Americans carry the first name Marcellina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marcellina today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marcellina births was 1976 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marcellina. 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
240
~ 1 in 1,428,143 Americans
Peak year
1976
20 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,746
Tracked since 1915
Census
Marcellina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 380 people with the first name Marcellina, which placed it at #25,078 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,078
National first-name rank
People counted
380
380 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
33.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marcellina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marcellina is Hispanic at 33.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.1%) and White (23.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Marcellina described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Marcellina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino33.7% · 128
- Black or African American27.1% · 103
- White23.9% · 91
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 24
- Two or more races4.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.2% · 16
Popularity
Marcellina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marcellina from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 124 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marcellina 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 Marcellina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marcellinas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marcellina
The given name Marcellina is a feminine form of the masculine name Marcellinus, which is derived from the Roman family name Marcellus. The name Marcellus is a diminutive of the name Marcus, which was one of the most common Roman praenomina or personal names.
The name Marcus is believed to have originated from the Oscan or Umbrian word "marko," meaning "hammer" or "hammer-like." This suggests that the name may have been associated with strength, power, or military prowess in ancient times.
Marcellinus and its feminine counterpart Marcellina were popular names among early Christians, particularly in Italy and other parts of the Roman Empire. The names appear in various early Christian writings and records, although their exact origins within the Christian tradition are uncertain.
One of the earliest recorded individuals named Marcellina was Saint Marcellina, who lived in the 4th century AD. She was the sister of Saint Ambrose, the renowned bishop of Milan. Saint Marcellina devoted her life to religious service and is venerated as a virgin and martyr in the Catholic Church.
Another notable figure bearing the name Marcellina was Marcellina Desbordes-Valmore, a French Romantic poet born in 1786. She is remembered for her lyrical and emotional poetry, which often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
In the 16th century, there was a Marcellina Semiramis, an Italian painter active in Rome during the Renaissance period. Although little is known about her life, some of her works can be found in various churches and collections in Italy.
Marcellina Fortunati, born in 1570, was an Italian nun and mystic who was known for her spiritual visions and writings. She lived in the convent of San Geminiano in Modena and was regarded as a holy woman during her lifetime.
Another notable figure named Marcellina was Marcellina Arhiduchessa d'Austria, an Archduchess of Austria who lived from 1792 to 1833. She was a member of the Habsburg dynasty and played a role in the political and cultural life of the Austrian Empire in the early 19th century.
These are a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the given name Marcellina, illustrating its rich cultural and historical significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Marcellina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marcellina 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
Marcellina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marcellina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 240 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marcellina 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 1,428,143 US residents.
Is Marcellina a common name?
We classify Marcellina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 292 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marcellina most popular?
The single biggest year for Marcellina was 1976, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marcellina is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marcellina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 380 people with the name Marcellina, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,078 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Marcellina in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Marcellina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marcellina appears almost entirely female. Of the 376 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Marcellina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marcellina is Hispanic at 33.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.1%) and White (23.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Marcellina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Marcellina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.7% (128 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Marcellina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marcellina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marcellina 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.
Is Marcellina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marcellina in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Marcellina can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Marcellina?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.