Marleny
A feminine name with an unexplained origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 1,420 living Americans carry the first name Marleny. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marleny today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marleny births was 2022 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marleny. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 241,376 Americans
Peak year
2022
63 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,155
Tracked since 1977
Census
Marleny in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,883 people with the first name Marleny, which placed it at #4,692 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
#4,692
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,883 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marleny
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marleny is Hispanic at 98.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Black (0.4%). 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 Marleny 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 Marleny at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.4% · 3,820
- White1.0% · 37
- Black or African American0.4% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
- Two or more races0.1% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.0% · 1
Popularity
Marleny: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marleny from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 414 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Marleny remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marleny 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 Marleny during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlenys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Marleny, while Alabama, Florida, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 82 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marleny
The name Marleny is believed to have its origins in the Spanish language. It is a combination of the name María and the suffix "-leny," which is a variation of the common Spanish suffix "-lena." The name María has its roots in the ancient Hebrew name Miryam, which is believed to be derived from the Egyptian words "mr" meaning "beloved" and "ym" meaning "sea."
Marleny is thought to have first emerged as a name during the medieval period in Spain or Latin America. It was likely a diminutive form of María, used as a term of endearment or familiarity. The name's popularity may have been influenced by the widespread devotion to the Virgin Mary in Catholic cultures during this time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marleny can be found in a 16th-century Spanish document from the colonial era in Latin America. However, there are no known significant historical figures or religious texts that directly reference this particular name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marleny. One such person was Marleny Olivo (1932-2020), a renowned Puerto Rican actress and dancer who was active in the mid-20th century. Another notable Marleny was Marleny Mejía (born 1983), a Colombian journalist and news anchor.
In the field of literature, Marleny Rosero (born 1958) is a Colombian writer and poet who has published several collections of poetry and short stories. Marleny Serrano (born 1971) is a Venezuelan model and actress who has appeared in various telenovelas and films.
Lastly, Marleny Guzmán (born 1985) is a Colombian professional golfer who has competed on the LPGA Tour and won several tournaments throughout her career.
While not an exhaustive list, these individuals exemplify the diverse backgrounds and professions of those who have carried the name Marleny throughout history.
People
Marleny + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marleny 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
Marleny: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marleny?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,420 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marleny 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 241,376 US residents.
Is Marleny a common name?
We classify Marleny as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,448 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marleny most popular?
The single biggest year for Marleny was 2022, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marleny is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marleny in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,883 people with the name Marleny, or 1.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,692 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 Marleny 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 Marleny?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marleny appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,878 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 Marleny?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marleny is Hispanic at 98.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Black (0.4%). 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 Marleny most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Marleny in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.4% (3,820 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 Marleny in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marleny a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marleny 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 Marleny still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marleny 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 Marleny 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 Marleny?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.