Marilu
A feminine name combining "Maria" and "Luz" meaning "star of the sea" and "light".
Name Census estimates that about 1,869 living Americans carry the first name Marilu. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marilu today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marilu births was 1991 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marilu. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 183,389 Americans
Peak year
1991
55 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,432
Tracked since 1919
Popularity
Marilu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marilu 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
Marilu 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 Marilu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marilus live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Marilu, while Michigan, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 161 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marilu
The name Marilu is a Spanish feminine given name that originated in the 20th century. It is a combination of the names Maria and Lucia, both of which have rich histories and meanings. Maria is derived from the Hebrew name Miryam, meaning "bitter" or "beloved." Lucia is a Latin name meaning "light."
The earliest known person with the name Marilu was Marilu Henner, an American actress and author born in 1952. She is best known for her role as Elaine Nardo on the sitcom Taxi, for which she received multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations.
Another notable Marilu was Marilu Tolo, a Mexican actress and singer born in 1948. She appeared in numerous telenovelas and films throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and her music career spanned several decades.
In the realm of literature, Marilu Beukers is a Dutch author and illustrator of children's books. Some of her notable works include "Een bos vol konijnen" (A Forest Full of Rabbits) and "De zwarte weduwe" (The Black Widow).
Marilu Norden was a Swedish actress born in 1904. She had a successful career in both film and theater, appearing in over 40 films throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
Marilu Bueno was a Brazilian tennis player who was a Grand Slam champion in the 1950s and 1960s. She won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including Wimbledon in 1959 and the U.S. Championships (now the U.S. Open) in 1959 and 1963.
While the name Marilu is not widely documented in ancient texts or historical records, its component names, Maria and Lucia, have rich histories in various cultures and religions. The combination of these two names into the unique form of Marilu reflects the cultural diversity and creativity of modern naming practices.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Marilu
People
Marilu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marilu 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
Marilu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marilu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,869 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marilu 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 183,389 US residents.
Is Marilu a common name?
We classify Marilu as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,263 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marilu most popular?
The single biggest year for Marilu was 1991, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marilu is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Marilu a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marilu 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.