Marcellos
A masculine name of Latin origin meaning "young warrior" or "little warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Marcellos. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Marcellos today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marcellos births was 1972 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marcellos. 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 Marcellos. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1972
5 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1997 SSA rank
#10,226
Tracked since 1972
Popularity
Marcellos: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marcellos from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marcellos 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 Marcellos 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 Marcellos
The given name Marcellos has its origins in the Latin language. It is derived from the Roman name Marcellus, which was a family name for the gens Claudia, an influential patrician family in ancient Rome. The name Marcellus is thought to be a diminutive or hypocoristic form of the Roman name Marcus, which could be translated as "dedicated to Mars," the Roman god of war.
The name Marcellus has been recorded in ancient Roman texts, including the works of historians like Livy and Plutarch. One of the earliest and most notable figures to bear this name was Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a Roman consul and military leader from the 3rd century BC. He played a significant role in the Second Punic War against Carthage and was renowned for his military victories.
Another famous bearer of the name was Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the nephew of the Roman emperor Augustus. He was considered a potential heir to the throne but died at a young age in 23 BC, causing great grief to Augustus and the Roman people.
During the Middle Ages, the name Marcellus was used in various forms across Europe, including Marcellos, Marcello, and Marceau. One notable figure was Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694), an Italian biologist and physician who made significant contributions to the study of anatomy and is considered the founder of modern histology.
In the Renaissance period, the name gained popularity in Italy, with several artists and intellectuals bearing it. One of the most famous was Marcello Palingenio Stellato (c. 1500-1551), an Italian poet and satirist known for his work "Zodiacus Vitae" (The Zodiac of Life).
Another notable figure was Marcello Venusti (c. 1515-1579), an Italian painter and one of the leading artists of the Mannerist style. He collaborated with Michelangelo and is known for his religious paintings and portraits.
In the 17th century, the name was also used in France, with the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) being a prominent bearer of the name. He was known for his operas, oratorios, and sacred music, and served as the music director for the Jesuits in Paris.
People
Marcellos + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marcellos 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
Marcellos: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marcellos?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marcellos 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Marcellos a common name?
We classify Marcellos as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marcellos most popular?
The single biggest year for Marcellos was 1972, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marcellos is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Marcellos in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marcellos a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marcellos in the SSA data are male. 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 Marcellos still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marcellos 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 Marcellos 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Marcellos as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.