Marlem
A feminine name derived from a combination of "Mary" and "Lemitta".
Name Census estimates that about 35 living Americans carry the first name Marlem. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marlem today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlem births was 1993 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlem. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Marlem. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
35
~ 1 in 9,792,981 Americans
Peak year
1993
9 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2001 SSA rank
#14,679
Tracked since 1981
Census
Marlem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 278 people with the first name Marlem, which placed it at #31,017 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
#31,017
National first-name rank
People counted
278
278 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marlem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlem is Hispanic at 97.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Marlem 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 Marlem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.1% · 270
- White1.8% · 5
- Black or African American1.1% · 3
Popularity
Marlem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlem from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 19 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Marlem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marlem 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 Marlem 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 Marlem
The name Marlem originated from the ancient Etruscan civilization, which flourished in the region of modern-day Italy between the 8th and 3rd centuries BC. It derives from the Etruscan word "marlemi," meaning "lady of the sea." This name was initially associated with the Etruscan goddess of the ocean, who was revered by seafaring communities along the Italian coast.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marlem can be found in an Etruscan funerary inscription dating back to the 5th century BC. This inscription was discovered in the necropolis of Cerveteri, an ancient Etruscan city located near modern-day Rome. It commemorates a woman named Marlem, who was likely a prominent figure in the local community.
During the Roman era, the name Marlem gained some popularity among the upper classes, particularly in coastal regions. One notable figure bearing this name was Marlem Aurelia, a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 1st century AD. She was renowned for her philanthropic work and her patronage of the arts.
In the Middle Ages, the name Marlem fell out of widespread use but remained preserved in certain monastic records and genealogical documents. One such record mentions a nun named Marlem who lived in a Benedictine convent in Ravenna, Italy, during the 11th century.
The Renaissance period saw a resurgence of interest in ancient Etruscan culture, which led to a renewed appreciation for the name Marlem. One notable bearer of this name was Marlem Sforza, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who lived in the late 15th century. She was known for her patronage of numerous artists and scholars, including the renowned painter Leonardo da Vinci.
In the 17th century, Marlem Grimaldi was a prominent figure in the Republic of Genoa, serving as a diplomat and statesman. He played a crucial role in negotiating treaties and alliances with other European powers during his time.
Another historical figure named Marlem was Marlem Curie, a French physicist who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and is renowned for her pioneering work on radioactivity.
People
Marlem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlem 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
Marlem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 35 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlem 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 9,792,981 US residents.
Is Marlem a common name?
We classify Marlem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 48.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 36 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlem most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlem was 1993, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlem is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marlem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 278 people with the name Marlem, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,017 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 Marlem 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 Marlem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlem leans strongly female. 273 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 8 male bearers (2.8%). 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 Marlem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlem is Hispanic at 97.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Marlem most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Marlem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.1% (270 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 Marlem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marlem a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marlem 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 Marlem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marlem 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 Marlem 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 Americans are named Marlem?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.