Marline
A feminine name derived from French and English variations of Mary.
Name Census estimates that about 925 living Americans carry the first name Marline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marline today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marline births was 1935 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marline. 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
925
~ 1 in 370,545 Americans
Peak year
1935
39 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2017 SSA rank
#15,273
Tracked since 1915
Census
Marline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,632 people with the first name Marline, which placed it at #8,778 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
#8,778
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,632 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marline is White at 33.9%. The next largest groups are Black (33.5%) and Hispanic (25.4%). 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 Marline 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 Marline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.9% · 554
- Black or African American33.5% · 546
- Hispanic or Latino25.4% · 415
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 66
- Two or more races2.4% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 12
Popularity
Marline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marline from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 292 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
Marline 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 Marline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Florida, Ohio recorded the most babies named Marline, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marline
The name Marline appears to have its origins in the French language, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to be a combination of two French words: "mer," meaning "sea," and "line," which can be interpreted as a reference to a fishing line or a connection to the maritime world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marline can be found in a 15th-century French text, where it was used to refer to a type of rope or cord used in sailing vessels. This connection to nautical terminology suggests that the name may have originally been associated with individuals involved in seafaring or coastal communities.
In the 16th century, the name Marline gained popularity among French aristocratic families, particularly those with ties to the naval tradition. One notable figure from this period was Marline de Montmorency (1501-1557), a French noblewoman and courtier at the court of King Francis I.
As the name spread across Europe, it also found its way into the literary world. In the 17th century, the character of Marline appeared in several plays and poems, often depicting her as a strong-willed and adventurous woman with a connection to the sea.
In the 19th century, the name Marline gained further recognition with the birth of Marline Delamarre (1837-1912), a French painter and sculptor known for her works depicting maritime scenes and coastal landscapes.
Another notable figure was Marline Dietrich (1901-1992), the renowned German-American actress and singer who rose to international fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Her iconic performance in the 1930 film "The Blue Angel" cemented her status as a cultural icon.
In the world of literature, Marline Pierrot (1925-2019) was a celebrated French novelist and screenwriter, best known for her works exploring themes of identity, love, and the human condition.
While the name Marline has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, its popularity has ebbed and flowed over time, with periods of resurgence and decline. Nonetheless, its connection to the sea and maritime traditions has remained a defining characteristic, making it a unique and evocative choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Marline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marline 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
Marline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 925 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marline 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 370,545 US residents.
Is Marline a common name?
We classify Marline as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,524 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marline most popular?
The single biggest year for Marline was 1935, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marline is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,632 people with the name Marline, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,778 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 Marline 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 Marline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marline appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,635 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Marline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marline is White at 33.9%. The next largest groups are Black (33.5%) and Hispanic (25.4%). 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 Marline most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.9% (554 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 Marline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marline 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 Marline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marline 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 Marline 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 Marline as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.