Marena
A feminine name possibly derived from the Latin word "mare", meaning "sea".
Name Census estimates that about 1,133 living Americans carry the first name Marena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marena today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marena births was 1994 (75 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marena. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 302,519 Americans
Peak year
1994
75 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,226
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Marena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marena from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 443 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marena 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 Marena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Florida, Illinois recorded the most babies named Marena, while Washington, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marena
The given name Marena has its origins in the Greek language, where it is derived from the word "mareno," meaning "to shine" or "to sparkle." This name likely emerged during the classical period of ancient Greece, around the 5th century BC.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Marena can be found in the works of the Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. He referred to a woman named Marena, who was said to be a priestess in the temple of Aphrodite on the island of Samos.
In the Byzantine Empire, which lasted from the 4th to the 15th century AD, the name Marena was associated with the Greek Orthodox Church. Several notable figures from this period bore the name, including Marena of Thessaloniki, a nun and writer who lived in the 11th century.
During the Renaissance period in Europe, the name Marena gained popularity among the Italian nobility. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Marena Sforza, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, who lived from 1451 to 1495.
In the 17th century, the name Marena was also found in French aristocratic circles. Marena de Rohan, a French noblewoman and courtier, was born in 1615 and is known for her involvement in the Fronde rebellion against the French monarchy.
Another notable figure with the name Marena was Marena Grigorievna Rasputina, a Russian peasant woman who was a close confidante of the Romanov imperial family in the early 20th century. She lived from 1864 to 1928 and is often referred to as simply Marena Rasputin.
Throughout its history, the name Marena has been associated with a sense of radiance, beauty, and spiritual devotion, reflecting its Greek origins and the various cultural contexts in which it has been used.
People
Marena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marena 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
Marena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,133 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marena 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 302,519 US residents.
Is Marena a common name?
We classify Marena as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,278 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marena most popular?
The single biggest year for Marena was 1994, when 75 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marena is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Marena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marena 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.
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.