Maricel
A feminine combination of the names "Maria" and "Celeste" meaning "sea star".
Name Census estimates that about 435 living Americans carry the first name Maricel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maricel today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maricel births was 1990 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maricel. 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
435
~ 1 in 787,941 Americans
Peak year
1990
23 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2011 SSA rank
#18,550
Tracked since 1960
Census
Maricel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,246 people with the first name Maricel, which placed it at #5,324 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
#5,324
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,246 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
65.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maricel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maricel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.6%) and White (2.0%). 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 Maricel 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 Maricel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander65.8% · 2,135
- Hispanic or Latino30.6% · 993
- White2.0% · 64
- Two or more races1.1% · 37
- Black or African American0.5% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Maricel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maricel from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 134 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maricel 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 Maricel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maricels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Maricel
The given name Maricel is a feminine name with origins in the Philippines. It is a combination of the names Maria and Celeste, with Maria being a name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved" or "wished-for child," and Celeste being a name of Latin origin meaning "heavenly" or "celestial."
Maricel gained popularity in the Philippines during the 20th century, particularly among Catholic families who revered the Virgin Mary. The name was often given to girls as a way to honor both the Virgin Mary and the celestial realm, reflecting the religious and cultural significance of these two names.
Although the exact origins of the name Maricel are not well documented, it is believed to have emerged as a unique blend of Maria and Celeste in the Philippines, where Spanish and English influences have shaped the naming traditions over time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maricel can be found in Filipino literature from the mid-20th century. Maricel Soriano, a renowned Filipino actress, was born in 1955 and has contributed significantly to the popularity of this name in the Philippines.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Maricel, including:
1. Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan (born 1975), a former Filipino actress and politician.
2. Maricel Soriano (born 1955), the aforementioned Filipino actress known for her roles in numerous films and television series.
3. Maricel Akiki (born 1979), a Lebanese-Mexican singer and actress.
4. Maricel Cuales (born 1960), a Filipino nun who served as the Superior General of the Order of Preachers from 2007 to 2019.
5. Maricel Redoble (born 1981), a Filipino volleyball player who represented the Philippines in international competitions.
While the name Maricel has deep roots in Philippine culture, it has also gained recognition in other parts of the world, particularly among communities with strong Catholic or Hispanic influences.
People
Maricel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maricel 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
Maricel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maricel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 435 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maricel 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 787,941 US residents.
Is Maricel a common name?
We classify Maricel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.2% 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 Maricel most popular?
The single biggest year for Maricel was 1990, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maricel is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maricel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,246 people with the name Maricel, or 1.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,324 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 Maricel 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 Maricel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maricel appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,238 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Maricel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maricel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.6%) and White (2.0%). 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 Maricel most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Maricel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.8% (2,135 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 Maricel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maricel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maricel 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 Maricel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maricel 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 Maricel 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 Americans are named Maricel?
Want to know how many people share the name Maricel? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.