Maridel
A feminine given name derived from a combination of "Mary" and "Adela".
Name Census estimates that about 25 living Americans carry the first name Maridel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maridel today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maridel births was 1944 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maridel. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Maridel is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Maridels were born before 1954.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Maridel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
25
~ 1 in 13,710,174 Americans
Peak year
1944
9 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1955 SSA rank
#5,023
Tracked since 1931
Census
Maridel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 358 people with the first name Maridel, which placed it at #26,164 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
#26,164
National first-name rank
People counted
358
358 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
55.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maridel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maridel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 55.6%. The next largest groups are White (22.6%) and Hispanic (19.3%). 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 Maridel 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 Maridel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander55.6% · 199
- White22.6% · 81
- Hispanic or Latino19.3% · 69
- Two or more races1.7% · 6
- Black or African American0.8% · 3
Popularity
Maridel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maridel from the 1930s through to the 1950s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 40 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maridel 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 Maridel 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 Maridel
The name Maridel is a combination of the names Maria and Delphine, originating from the Romance languages of Latin and Greek. The first part, "Mari", is derived from the Hebrew name Miriam, meaning "bitter" or "beloved", while "del" comes from the Greek word "delphys", meaning "womb" or "dolphin".
The earliest recorded use of the name Maridel dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in a medieval French manuscript. During this time, the name was popular among the nobility and upper classes, particularly in regions like Brittany and Normandy.
In the 16th century, the name gained popularity in Spain, where it was often associated with the Virgin Mary. One notable figure from this era was Maridel de Alburquerque (1520-1585), a Spanish noblewoman and patron of the arts.
As the name spread across Europe, it appeared in various literary works and historical records. In the 17th century, the English poet John Donne mentioned a "Maridel" in one of his love sonnets, indicating the name's use in England.
During the 19th century, the name Maridel was particularly popular in France and Italy. One notable figure from this period was Maridel Dujardin (1819-1892), a French writer and feminist activist who advocated for women's rights and education.
Another famous bearer of the name was Maridel Belmont (1845-1921), an Italian opera singer and composer who performed in major opera houses across Europe and America.
In the 20th century, the name gained some popularity in the United States, particularly among families with French or Spanish ancestry. One notable American with the name was Maridel Chamberlain (1909-1998), a philanthropist and socialite who was active in various charitable organizations.
Overall, the name Maridel has a rich history that spans across centuries and cultures, with its origins rooted in the Romance languages and its popularity ebbing and flowing throughout different regions and time periods.
People
Maridel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maridel 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
Maridel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maridel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 25 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maridel 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 13,710,174 US residents.
Is Maridel a common name?
We classify Maridel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 69 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maridel most popular?
The single biggest year for Maridel was 1944, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maridel is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maridel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 358 people with the name Maridel, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,164 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 Maridel 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 Maridel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maridel appears almost entirely female. Of the 354 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Maridel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maridel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 55.6%. The next largest groups are White (22.6%) and Hispanic (19.3%). 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 Maridel most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Maridel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.6% (199 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 Maridel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maridel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maridel 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 Maridel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maridel 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 Maridel 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 called Maridel?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.