Marianne
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew name Mary, meaning "bitter" or "beloved lady".
Name Census estimates that about 40,819 living Americans carry the first name Marianne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marianne today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marianne births was 1957 (3,029 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marianne. 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 Marianne with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Marianne have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
41K
~ 1 in 8,397 Americans
Peak year
1957
3,029 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1965 SSA rank
#2,122
Tracked since 1886
Census
Marianne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 57,190 people with the first name Marianne, which placed it at #824 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
#824
National first-name rank
People counted
57K
57,190 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
18.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marianne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marianne is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Marianne 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 Marianne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.0% · 50,911
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 2,495
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 1,918
- Two or more races1.5% · 872
- Black or African American1.5% · 838
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 156
Gender
Gender distribution for Marianne
Out of the 65,455 babies given the name Marianne since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Marianne as a male name
- Ranked #3,783 in 1965
- 6 male births in 1965
- Peak: 1957 (7 births)
Marianne as a female name
- Ranked #2,122 in 2024
- 90 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1957 (3,022 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marianne appears almost entirely female. Of the 57,194 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Marianne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marianne from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 18,498 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
Marianne 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 Marianne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mariannes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Marianne, while Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,177 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marianne
Marianne is a French feminine given name derived from the ancient Semitic name Maria. It is a compound name, combining Maria with the French suffix -anne. The name's origins can be traced back to the Hebrew name Miryam, which itself originated from the Egyptian word mer, meaning "beloved."
In the New Testament, Maria or Mary is the name given to the mother of Jesus Christ. This association with the Virgin Mary has made the name immensely popular among Christian communities worldwide. The name Marianne emerged as a French variation, particularly prevalent in France and other French-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marianne can be found in the 13th century. Marianne of Brittany, also known as Marianne de Dreux (c. 1234 - 1311), was a Breton noblewoman and the countess consort of Richmond. She played a significant role in the governance of Brittany during her husband's absence.
In the 16th century, the name gained prominence with Marianne de Bourbon (1556 - 1598), a French princess and the abbess of the Fontevraud Abbey. She was a notable figure during the French Wars of Religion and was known for her political influence and support for the Catholic cause.
One of the most famous historical figures bearing the name Marianne is Marianne Brandt (1893 - 1983), a German painter and sculptor associated with the Bauhaus movement. Her metalwork designs, including the iconic tea infuser, became iconic representations of the Bauhaus style.
In the realm of literature, Marianne Moore (1887 - 1972) was an American modernist poet known for her precise and imagistic style. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1952 and was a highly influential figure in 20th-century American poetry.
Another notable figure was Marianne Williamson (born 1952), an American author, spiritual leader, and political activist. She ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election and is known for her work in promoting spiritual and personal growth.
Throughout history, the name Marianne has been associated with various cultural and political symbols, particularly in France, where it has been used to personify the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The image of Marianne, often depicted as a young woman wearing a Phrygian cap, has become an iconic symbol of the French Republic.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Marianne
People
Marianne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marianne 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
Marianne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marianne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 40,819 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marianne 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 8,397 US residents.
Is Marianne a common name?
We classify Marianne as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 65,455 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marianne most popular?
The single biggest year for Marianne was 1957, when 3,029 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marianne is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marianne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 57,190 people with the name Marianne, or 18.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #824 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 Marianne 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 Marianne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marianne appears almost entirely female. Of the 57,194 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Marianne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marianne is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Marianne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marianne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.0% (50,911 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 Marianne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marianne a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Marianne 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 Marianne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marianne 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 Marianne 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 are named Marianne?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Marianne, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.