Marcellus
A masculine name of Latin origin meaning "young warrior" or "little warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 7,447 living Americans carry the first name Marcellus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Marcellus today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marcellus births was 2021 (351 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marcellus. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Marcellus with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.4K
~ 1 in 46,026 Americans
Peak year
2021
351 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#948
Tracked since 1880
Census
Marcellus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,759 people with the first name Marcellus, which placed it at #4,067 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
#4,067
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,759 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marcellus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marcellus is Black at 68.9%. The next largest groups are White (10.6%) and Hispanic (9.1%). 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 Marcellus 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 Marcellus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.9% · 3,277
- White10.6% · 504
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 432
- Two or more races8.7% · 415
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 66
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 65
Gender
Gender distribution for Marcellus
Out of the 9,397 babies given the name Marcellus since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Marcellus as a male name
- Ranked #948 in 2024
- 240 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (351 births)
Marcellus as a female name
- Ranked #8,787 in 1970
- 5 female births in 1970
- Peak: 1970 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marcellus appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,754 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Marcellus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marcellus from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,522 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
Marcellus 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 Marcellus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marcellus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Marcellus, while Connecticut, Oregon, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 132 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marcellus
The name Marcellus has its origins in the ancient Roman culture, tracing back to the Latin language. It is derived from the Roman family name "Marcellus," which is a diminutive form of the name "Marcus." The name Marcus is believed to come from the Latin word "mas," meaning male or masculine.
Marcellus was a prominent name among the ancient Romans, particularly during the Roman Republic and Empire periods. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Marcellus can be found in Roman historical records, referring to Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a celebrated Roman consul and military leader who lived from 268 BC to 208 BC. He was known for his victories against Hannibal during the Second Punic War.
In the New Testament of the Bible, Marcellus is mentioned as a Christian at Rome, to whom the Apostle Paul sent greetings. This reference suggests that the name was in use among early Christians in the 1st century AD.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marcellus. One of the most famous was Marcellus I, who served as Pope of the Catholic Church from 308 to 309 AD. Another prominent figure was Marcellus of Ancyra, a 4th-century bishop and theologian who played a significant role in the Arian controversy.
During the Renaissance period, Marcellus II was the name of a Pope who reigned for only 22 days in 1555. Despite his brief papacy, he is remembered for his efforts to reform the Church and promote education.
In the 18th century, Marcellus Gilmore Edson, an American Baptist minister and abolitionist, was born in 1809. He was known for his active role in the anti-slavery movement and his work in establishing educational institutions for African Americans.
Another notable figure named Marcellus was Marcellus Shale, a 19th-century geologist who lent his name to the famous Marcellus shale formation, a significant source of natural gas in the eastern United States.
People
Marcellus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marcellus 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
Marcellus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marcellus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,447 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marcellus 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 46,026 US residents.
Is Marcellus a common name?
We classify Marcellus as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,397 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marcellus most popular?
The single biggest year for Marcellus was 2021, when 351 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marcellus is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marcellus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,759 people with the name Marcellus, or 1.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,067 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 Marcellus 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 Marcellus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marcellus appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,754 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Marcellus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marcellus is Black at 68.9%. The next largest groups are White (10.6%) and Hispanic (9.1%). 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 Marcellus most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marcellus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.9% (3,277 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 Marcellus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marcellus a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Marcellus 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 Marcellus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marcellus 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 Marcellus 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 common is the name Marcellus?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.