Mardi
An archaic feminine name of French origin meaning "Tuesday".
Name Census estimates that about 686 living Americans carry the first name Mardi. It is a predominantly female name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Mardi today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mardi births was 1956 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mardi. 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
686
~ 1 in 499,642 Americans
Peak year
1956
34 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
1968 SSA rank
#3,977
Tracked since 1941
Census
Mardi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,014 people with the first name Mardi, which placed it at #12,310 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
#12,310
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,014 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mardi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mardi is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). 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 Mardi 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 Mardi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 822
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 53
- Black or African American4.3% · 44
- Two or more races2.6% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Mardi
Out of the 874 babies given the name Mardi since 1880, 99.3% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Mardi as a male name
- Ranked #3,977 in 1968
- 6 male births in 1968
- Peak: 1968 (6 births)
Mardi as a female name
- Ranked #14,660 in 2009
- 7 female births in 2009
- Peak: 1956 (34 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mardi leans strongly female. 920 people counted with this name were female (90.5%), compared with 97 male bearers (9.5%).
Popularity
Mardi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mardi from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 251 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mardi 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 Mardi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mardis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Washington, Michigan recorded the most babies named Mardi, while Ohio, Michigan, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mardi
The name Mardi is derived from the French word "mardi," which means Tuesday. It is believed to have its origins in the Roman era, as the Romans named the days of the week after celestial bodies and deities. Tuesday was originally known as "dies Martis" or "the day of Mars," the Roman god of war.
In medieval France, the French word for Tuesday, "mardi," emerged from the Latin "dies Martis." While not a traditional French given name, Mardi was likely used as a nickname or informal name for individuals born on a Tuesday. It may have also been used as a playful or whimsical name choice in later centuries.
One of the earliest recorded uses of Mardi as a given name dates back to the 16th century. In 1536, a French playwright named Mardi Gras (literally "Fat Tuesday") wrote a satirical play titled "La Sottie du Prince des Sotz" (The Folly of the Prince of Fools).
Another notable historical figure with the name Mardi was Mardi Tindal (1653-1733), an English deist and philosopher. He was known for his works challenging the traditional Christian doctrine and advocating for natural religion based on reason and observation.
In the 19th century, Mardi Merrick (1835-1903) was an American author and journalist. She wrote several novels and short stories, including "Violet, the Child-Widow" and "The Master's House."
A more recent historical figure with the name Mardi was Mardi Richmond (1916-2006), an American actress and dancer. She appeared in several Broadway productions and Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s, including "Kiss Me Kate" and "On the Town."
Finally, Mardi Gras Shipnuck (1940-2018) was an American journalist and writer. He was best known for his work as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, covering golf and other sports.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Mardi
People
Mardi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mardi 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
Mardi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mardi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 686 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mardi 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 499,642 US residents.
Is Mardi a common name?
We classify Mardi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 874 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mardi most popular?
The single biggest year for Mardi was 1956, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mardi is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mardi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,014 people with the name Mardi, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,310 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 Mardi 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 Mardi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mardi leans strongly female. 920 people counted with this name were female (90.5%), compared with 97 male bearers (9.5%). 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 Mardi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mardi is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). 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 Mardi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mardi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (822 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 Mardi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mardi a female name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Mardi 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 Mardi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mardi 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 Mardi 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 people have the name Mardi?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Mardi, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.