Marli
A compound name combining Marie (bitter) and Lili (lily flower).
Name Census estimates that about 2,716 living Americans carry the first name Marli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marli today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marli births was 2008 (171 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marli. 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 Marli with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Marli is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 126,198 Americans
Peak year
2008
171 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,059
Tracked since 1954
Census
Marli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,525 people with the first name Marli, which placed it at #6,378 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
#6,378
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,525 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marli is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Marli 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 Marli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.4% · 1,602
- Black or African American13.4% · 338
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 327
- Two or more races7.3% · 185
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Marli
Out of the 2,767 babies given the name Marli since 1880, 99.8% 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.
Marli as a male name
- Ranked #13,461 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (5 births)
Marli as a female name
- Ranked #2,059 in 2024
- 94 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (171 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marli leans strongly female. 2,477 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 51 male bearers (2.0%).
Popularity
Marli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marli from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 946 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Marli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marli 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 Marli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Marli, while Wisconsin, South Carolina, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marli
The given name Marli is believed to have originated from the Latin word "maritus," which means "husband" or "spouse." This name has its roots in the ancient Roman culture, where it was initially used as a term of endearment between married couples.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Marli started gaining popularity as a feminine given name, particularly in regions that were once part of the Roman Empire, such as Italy, France, and Spain. It was often used as a diminutive form of the more common names Maria or Marlene.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marli can be found in the medieval Italian text "Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio, written in the 14th century. In this work, the author mentions a character named Marli, who is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Marli. In the 16th century, Marli de' Medici (1573-1642) was an Italian noblewoman and a member of the powerful Medici family. She is known for her patronage of the arts and her involvement in the cultural Renaissance movement of that era.
Another famous Marli was Marli Antoinette (1755-1793), the infamous Queen of France during the French Revolution. Although her name is often spelled as Marie Antoinette, some historical records suggest that her given name was originally spelled as Marli.
In the literary world, Marli Shelley (1797-1851) was an English novelist and the author of the iconic Gothic novel "Frankenstein." Her work is considered a seminal piece of literature and has influenced countless writers and filmmakers over the centuries.
During the 20th century, Marli Curie (1867-1934) was a renowned Polish physicist and chemist, who is best known for her pioneering work on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains an influential figure in the field of science.
More recently, Marli Osmond (born 1959) is an American actress, singer, and television personality, who rose to fame as a child star in the 1960s and 1970s. She has had a successful career in various entertainment industries and is known for her versatility as a performer.
People
Marli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marli 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
Marli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,716 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marli 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 126,198 US residents.
Is Marli a common name?
We classify Marli as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,767 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marli most popular?
The single biggest year for Marli was 2008, when 171 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marli is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,525 people with the name Marli, or 0.84 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,378 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 Marli 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 Marli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marli leans strongly female. 2,477 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 51 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Marli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marli is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Marli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.4% (1,602 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 Marli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marli a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Marli 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 Marli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marli 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 Marli 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 Marli as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Marli on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.