Marico
A Spanish name of uncertain meaning, possibly related to a slang term.
Name Census estimates that about 382 living Americans carry the first name Marico. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Marico today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marico births was 1979 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marico. 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
382
~ 1 in 897,263 Americans
Peak year
1979
18 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,342
Tracked since 1970
Census
Marico in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 400 people with the first name Marico, which placed it at #24,171 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
#24,171
National first-name rank
People counted
400
400 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marico
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marico is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.8%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Marico 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 Marico at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.5% · 270
- Hispanic or Latino18.8% · 75
- Two or more races5.0% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 18
- White3.5% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Popularity
Marico: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marico from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 124 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
Marico 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 Marico during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maricos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marico
The given name Marico is believed to have its origins in the Spanish language, with historical records indicating its use dates back to the 16th century. The name is derived from the Latin word "maricus," which means "effeminate" or "cowardly." It is thought to have been used as an insult or derogatory term during the Middle Ages.
While the origins of the name are somewhat obscure, historians have found references to individuals bearing the name Marico in various Spanish texts and documents from the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of Marico de Alvarado, a Spanish conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico in the early 1500s.
Another notable individual with this name was Marico de la Vega, a Spanish poet and playwright born in Seville in 1562. His works, which included plays and sonnets, were widely celebrated during the Spanish Golden Age of literature.
In the 18th century, Marico Pardo de Figueroa was a prominent Spanish military officer and statesman who served as the Viceroy of New Granada (present-day Colombia and Panama) from 1737 to 1741. He played a significant role in the governance and administration of the Spanish colonies in South America.
Moving into the 19th century, Marico Arredondo was a Mexican general who fought in the Mexican War of Independence against Spain. He was known for his bravery and leadership on the battlefield, and his efforts contributed to Mexico's eventual independence in 1821.
Lastly, Marico Rossi was an Italian journalist and political activist born in 1857. He founded several newspapers and advocated for social and political reforms in Italy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Marico has its roots in Spanish and Latin origins, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions throughout history. These examples showcase the diversity of individuals who have borne this name, spanning different professions, nationalities, and time periods.
People
Marico + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marico 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
Marico: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marico?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 382 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marico 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 897,263 US residents.
Is Marico a common name?
We classify Marico as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 399 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marico most popular?
The single biggest year for Marico was 1979, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marico is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marico in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 400 people with the name Marico, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,171 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 Marico 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 Marico?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marico leans strongly male. 357 people counted with this name were male (90.4%), compared with 38 female bearers (9.6%). 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 Marico?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marico is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.8%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Marico most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marico in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.5% (270 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 Marico in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marico a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marico in the SSA data are male. 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 Marico still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marico 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 Marico 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 Marico?
Want to know how many people have the name Marico? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.