Marletta
A feminine name derived from Mary, meaning "bitter" or "beloved lady".
Name Census estimates that about 209 living Americans carry the first name Marletta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marletta today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marletta births was 1964 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marletta. 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
209
~ 1 in 1,639,973 Americans
Peak year
1964
15 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1986 SSA rank
#12,076
Tracked since 1926
Census
Marletta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 265 people with the first name Marletta, which placed it at #32,010 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
#32,010
National first-name rank
People counted
265
265 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marletta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marletta is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (32.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Marletta 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 Marletta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.0% · 151
- Black or African American32.5% · 86
- Two or more races4.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.8% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 7
Popularity
Marletta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marletta from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 88 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marletta 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 Marletta 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 Marletta
The name Marletta is believed to have originated from the Latin name Marella, which itself is a diminutive form of the name Maria. Maria is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam, which means "bitter" or "beloved". Marletta likely emerged as a variant of Marella during the medieval period in parts of Europe, particularly Italy and Spain.
Marletta was a relatively uncommon name throughout much of recorded history. However, there are a few notable individuals who bore this name. One of the earliest recorded instances is Marletta Guidi, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 13th century and was a member of the powerful Guidi family of Florence.
In the 15th century, there was a Marletta di Giovanni, an Italian painter active in Siena during the Renaissance period. Though not widely renowned, some of her works can still be found in churches and museums in Siena and surrounding areas.
Moving forward to the 17th century, there was Marletta Angeli, an Italian actress and singer who performed in various theaters and opera houses across Italy. She was particularly known for her roles in comedic plays and operas.
In the 19th century, Marletta Piccolomini was an Italian writer and poet who published several collections of poetry and prose works. She was also a vocal advocate for women's rights and education.
Finally, in the early 20th century, there was Marletta Quintavalle, an Italian sculptor and artist who specialized in creating intricate marble sculptures and busts. Her work was featured in several exhibitions and galleries throughout Italy.
While not an extremely common name throughout history, Marletta has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including nobility, artists, writers, and performers, primarily in Italy and other parts of southern Europe where the name likely originated and evolved from its Latin roots.
People
Marletta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marletta 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
Marletta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marletta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 209 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marletta 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 1,639,973 US residents.
Is Marletta a common name?
We classify Marletta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 293 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marletta most popular?
The single biggest year for Marletta was 1964, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marletta is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marletta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 265 people with the name Marletta, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,010 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 Marletta 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 Marletta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marletta appears almost entirely female. Of the 268 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Marletta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marletta is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (32.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Marletta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marletta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (151 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 Marletta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marletta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marletta 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 Marletta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marletta 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 Marletta 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 Marletta?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.