Marlea
A feminine name possibly derived from "Mary" with uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 612 living Americans carry the first name Marlea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marlea today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlea births was 2008 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlea. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Marlea with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
612
~ 1 in 560,056 Americans
Peak year
2008
20 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,808
Tracked since 1915
Census
Marlea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 651 people with the first name Marlea, which placed it at #17,102 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
#17,102
National first-name rank
People counted
651
651 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marlea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlea is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Marlea 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 Marlea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.9% · 494
- Black or African American9.8% · 64
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 42
- Two or more races5.5% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 6
Popularity
Marlea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlea from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 113 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marlea 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 Marlea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marleas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marlea
The name Marlea is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, with various theories proposed about its linguistic roots and cultural significance. One hypothesis traces its origins to a combination of the Latin words "mare" (meaning "sea") and "lea" (meaning "meadow"), suggesting a possible connection to nature or geography.
Another theory posits that Marlea is a variant spelling of the French name Marlène, which itself is a combination of the Germanic elements "mar" (meaning "fame") and "lene" (meaning "tender" or "soft"). This interpretation would imply a meaning related to gentleness and renown.
Some scholars have also speculated that Marlea may be a blend of the names Mary and Lea, with the former being a Hebrew name derived from the biblical figure Miriam, and the latter being a Hebrew name meaning "weary" or "tired." This mixing of names could potentially reflect a combination of religious and symbolic meanings.
Historically, records of the name Marlea are relatively scarce, with few notable instances found in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, there are a handful of prominent individuals who have borne this name throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Marlea was Marlea Rendel (1847-1937), a British social reformer and philanthropist known for her work in improving housing conditions for the poor in London's East End during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another notable figure was Marlea Bland (1915-2007), an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway musicals and films during the 1930s and 1940s, including the iconic film adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" in 1939.
In the field of literature, Marlea Graham (1932-2022) was a renowned Australian novelist and short story writer, known for her works exploring themes of family, identity, and the complexities of human relationships.
Marlea Gilmore (1942-2019) was an influential Canadian artist and sculptor, renowned for her abstract and minimalist sculptures that explored the interplay between form, space, and light.
More recently, Marlea Bruchez (born 1977) is an American chemist and nanotechnology researcher, whose work on quantum dots and fluorescent nanoparticles has contributed significantly to the field of biomedical imaging and sensing.
While the name Marlea may have origins shrouded in uncertainty, its scattered appearances throughout history have been marked by individuals who have made their mark in various fields, from social reform and the arts to literature and scientific research.
People
Marlea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlea 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
Marlea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 612 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlea 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 560,056 US residents.
Is Marlea a common name?
We classify Marlea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 777 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlea most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlea was 2008, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlea is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marlea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 651 people with the name Marlea, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,102 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 Marlea 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 Marlea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlea appears almost entirely female. Of the 648 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Marlea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlea is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Marlea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marlea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (494 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 Marlea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marlea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marlea 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 Marlea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marlea 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 Marlea 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 have the name Marlea?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.