Marl
A unisex name of unclear meaning, perhaps related to marl or marlstone.
Name Census estimates that about 31 living Americans carry the first name Marl. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Marl today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marl births was 1921 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marl. 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 Marl is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Marls were born before 1965.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Marl. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
31
~ 1 in 11,056,592 Americans
Peak year
1921
8 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1974 SSA rank
#5,712
Tracked since 1916
Census
Marl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 320 people with the first name Marl, which placed it at #28,183 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
#28,183
National first-name rank
People counted
320
320 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marl is White at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Marl 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 Marl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.1% · 234
- Black or African American10.6% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.6% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
- Two or more races0.9% · 3
Popularity
Marl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marl from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 38 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marl 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 Marl 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 Marl
The name Marl is believed to have originated from the Old English word "mær," which means "famous" or "renowned." It is a relatively uncommon name, and its usage can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marl was in the Domesday Book, a manuscript compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name appeared as a personal name and a place name in various regions of England. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxons before the Norman conquest.
During the Middle Ages, the name Marl was associated with individuals from various backgrounds, including nobility, clergy, and commoners. In the 13th century, a prominent figure named Marl de Bohun was recorded as one of the noblemen who accompanied King Edward I on a crusade to the Holy Land.
Another notable bearer of the name was Marl Twain, an English scholar and clergyman who lived in the 15th century. He was known for his writings on theology and philosophy, some of which are still preserved in libraries and archives.
In the 16th century, a merchant named Marl Tradescant gained recognition for his extensive collection of rare plants and artifacts from around the world. His collection, known as the Tradescant Ark, was later donated to the University of Oxford and formed the basis of the Ashmolean Museum.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Marl Polly was a British naval officer who played a significant role in several important battles during the Seven Years' War. He was commended for his bravery and strategic leadership, earning him a place in the annals of British naval history.
While the name Marl has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, each leaving their mark on their respective fields and contributing to the richness of the name's legacy.
People
Marl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marl 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
Marl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marl 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 11,056,592 US residents.
Is Marl a common name?
We classify Marl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 116 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marl most popular?
The single biggest year for Marl was 1921, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marl is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 320 people with the name Marl, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,183 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 Marl 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 Marl?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Marl on both sides of the split. Of the 323 people counted with this name, 254 were male (78.6%) and 69 were female (21.4%). 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 Marl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marl is White at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Marl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.1% (234 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 Marl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marl a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marl 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 Marl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marl 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 Marl 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 share the name Marl?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.