Marketta
A feminine name derived from the Latin "Margarita" meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 776 living Americans carry the first name Marketta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marketta today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marketta births was 1985 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marketta. 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
776
~ 1 in 441,694 Americans
Peak year
1985
46 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2008 SSA rank
#16,749
Tracked since 1943
Popularity
Marketta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marketta from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 300 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
Marketta 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 Marketta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Markettas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Marketta, while Ohio, Mississippi, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marketta
Marketta is a feminine given name of Finnish origin, derived from the Latin name Marcellus or Marcella. The name is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 10th or 11th century, when Christianity was spreading throughout Finland and other Nordic regions.
The name Marcellus itself can be traced back to ancient Rome, where it was a common family name derived from the Latin word "marculus," meaning "little male" or "young warrior." The feminine form, Marcella, was widely used among Roman women during the Roman Empire.
While there are no specific historical references to the name Marketta in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is likely that the name was adapted from the Latin Marcella as a result of the Christianization of Finland and the influence of the Catholic Church in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marketta can be found in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, which was compiled in the 19th century but contains stories and traditions dating back centuries. In the Kalevala, Marketta is mentioned as the name of a young woman who plays a minor role in one of the poems.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Marketta. One of the most famous was Marketta Eriksdotter (c. 1330-1413), a Swedish noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the affairs of the Kalmar Union, a political union between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.
Another notable Marketta was Marketta Svinhufvud (1896-1980), a Finnish writer and playwright who was known for her novels and plays that explored themes of Finnish identity and the struggle for independence from Russia.
Marketta Fleming (1924-2005) was a Finnish-American actress and dancer who appeared in several Hollywood films and television shows in the 1950s and 1960s, including "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "The Untouchables."
Marketta Richenou (1925-2004) was a Finnish architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Helsinki, including the Helsinki City Theatre and the Aalto University Main Building.
Marketta Kumpuniemi (1955-present) is a Finnish writer and journalist who has published several novels and non-fiction works exploring issues of gender, sexuality, and Finnish identity.
People
Marketta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marketta 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
Marketta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marketta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 776 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marketta 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 441,694 US residents.
Is Marketta a common name?
We classify Marketta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 865 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marketta most popular?
The single biggest year for Marketta was 1985, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marketta is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Marketta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marketta 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.