Marlene
A feminine name derived from the German word "marl" meaning a type of rich soil.
Name Census estimates that about 71,496 living Americans carry the first name Marlene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marlene today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlene births was 1936 (5,354 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlene. 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 Marlene with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Marlene is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 359 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1930s, recent registration numbers for Marlene have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
71K
~ 1 in 4,794 Americans
Peak year
1936
5,354 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1994 SSA rank
#1,551
Tracked since 1904
Census
Marlene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 106,957 people with the first name Marlene, which placed it at #529 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
#529
National first-name rank
People counted
107K
106,957 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
35.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marlene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlene is White at 64.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.2%) and Black (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 Marlene 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 Marlene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.6% · 69,064
- Hispanic or Latino23.2% · 24,815
- Black or African American7.8% · 8,367
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 2,132
- Two or more races1.4% · 1,477
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1,102
Gender
Gender distribution for Marlene
Out of the 130,755 babies given the name Marlene since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Marlene as a male name
- Ranked #7,480 in 1994
- 7 male births in 1994
- Peak: 1936 (22 births)
Marlene as a female name
- Ranked #1,551 in 2024
- 137 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1936 (5,332 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlene appears almost entirely female. Of the 106,957 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Marlene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlene from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 37,490 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marlene 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 Marlene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Marlene, while Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,481 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marlene
The name Marlene originates from the German language and is a feminine form of the name Maren, which is derived from the ancient Germanic root "mar" meaning "sea" or "lake". It is believed to have emerged as a distinct name during the Middle Ages in parts of northern Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marlene can be found in historical records from the 14th century in the region of Saxony, Germany. It was likely used as a contraction or diminutive of the longer name Maren or Marelene.
Throughout the centuries, the name Marlene gained popularity across various parts of Europe, particularly in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. It was often associated with the concepts of water, lakes, and maritime regions, reflecting its linguistic roots.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Marlene was the German actress Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992), an iconic figure of the golden age of Hollywood. Her sultry on-screen persona and distinctive voice made her a legendary actress of her time.
Another famous Marlene was the French singer and actress Marlene Jobert (1943-2021), who gained recognition for her roles in various French films and theatrical productions throughout her career.
Marlene Dumas (born 1953) is a renowned South African artist known for her figurative paintings and her exploration of themes such as race, gender, and identity. Her works have been exhibited internationally and are held in prestigious collections worldwide.
In the literary realm, Marlene van Niekerk (born 1954) is a prominent South African writer and poet, best known for her novel "Triomf" which won the prestigious CNA Literary Award in 1995.
Marlene Ahrens (born 1933) was a German Olympic sprinter who won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, showcasing the name's presence in the world of sports.
While the name Marlene has maintained its popularity over time, particularly in German-speaking regions and parts of Europe, it has also transcended cultural boundaries and gained recognition globally, with variations and adaptations in different languages and cultures.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Marlene
People
Marlene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlene 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
Marlene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 71,496 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlene 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 4,794 US residents.
Is Marlene a common name?
We classify Marlene as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 130,755 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlene most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlene was 1936, when 5,354 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlene is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marlene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 106,957 people with the name Marlene, or 35.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #529 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 Marlene 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 Marlene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlene appears almost entirely female. Of the 106,957 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Marlene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlene is White at 64.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.2%) and Black (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 Marlene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marlene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.6% (69,064 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 Marlene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marlene a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Marlene 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 Marlene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marlene 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 Marlene 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 common is the name Marlene?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.