Marella
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly Latin or Italian.
Name Census estimates that about 379 living Americans carry the first name Marella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marella today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marella births was 1970 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marella. 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 Marella with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
379
~ 1 in 904,365 Americans
Peak year
1970
17 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,959
Tracked since 1918
Census
Marella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 532 people with the first name Marella, which placed it at #19,726 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
#19,726
National first-name rank
People counted
532
532 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marella is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.4%) and Black (12.0%). 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 Marella 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 Marella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.2% · 262
- Hispanic or Latino21.4% · 114
- Black or African American12.0% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.0% · 48
- Two or more races5.6% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 14
Popularity
Marella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marella 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 99 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Marella remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marella 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 Marella 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 Marella
The name Marella has its origins in the Italian language, where it is a diminutive form of the name Maria. Maria itself is derived from the Hebrew name Miryam, which is believed to have meant "beloved" or "wished-for child." The earliest known use of the name Marella dates back to the late Middle Ages in Italy.
In Italy, the name Marella has been associated with the Virgin Mary, as it is a derivation of the name Maria. This connection to the Catholic faith likely contributed to its popularity in certain regions of the country, particularly in the central and southern regions where religious traditions were deeply ingrained.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marella can be found in historical records from the 15th century, where it appears as the name of a woman from the city of Florence. Marella di Benedetto Salviati, born in 1472, was a member of the influential Salviati family and was known for her philanthropic work in the city.
In the 16th century, the name Marella gained further prominence with the birth of Marella Novella, an Italian painter and poet born in 1544 in the city of Ferrara. She was celebrated for her artistic talent and her literary works, which included poetry and plays.
Another notable figure in history with the name Marella was Marella Agnelli, an Italian socialite and style icon born in 1927. She was the wife of Gianni Agnelli, the famous industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. Marella Agnelli was widely admired for her elegance and philanthropic endeavors.
In the field of literature, Marella Agnelli Caracciolo di Brienza, born in 1916, was an Italian novelist and poet. Her works explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition, earning her critical acclaim in the literary world.
Marella Ragazzi, born in 1939, is an Italian artist known for her abstract expressionist paintings and sculptures. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums across Europe and the United States, and she is recognized as one of the leading contemporary artists from Italy.
While the name Marella has its roots in Italy, it has also gained popularity in other countries, particularly those with strong cultural ties to Italy or a significant Italian diaspora. However, its historical significance and associations remain deeply rooted in the Italian language and culture.
People
Marella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marella 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
Marella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 379 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marella 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 904,365 US residents.
Is Marella a common name?
We classify Marella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 465 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marella most popular?
The single biggest year for Marella was 1970, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marella is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 532 people with the name Marella, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,726 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 Marella 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 Marella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marella appears almost entirely female. Of the 524 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Marella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marella is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.4%) and Black (12.0%). 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 Marella most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.2% (262 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 Marella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marella 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 Marella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marella 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 Marella 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 Marella?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.