Marlise
A feminine name derived from the French word 'merle' meaning 'blackbird'.
Name Census estimates that about 313 living Americans carry the first name Marlise. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marlise today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlise births was 1962 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlise. 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
313
~ 1 in 1,095,062 Americans
Peak year
1962
16 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2020 SSA rank
#16,657
Tracked since 1944
Census
Marlise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 489 people with the first name Marlise, which placed it at #20,938 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
#20,938
National first-name rank
People counted
489
489 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marlise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlise is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Hispanic (14.1%). 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 Marlise 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 Marlise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.4% · 305
- Black or African American14.9% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino14.1% · 69
- Two or more races6.3% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
Popularity
Marlise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlise from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 90 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
Marlise 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 Marlise during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlises live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marlise
The name Marlise is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, derived from the Old High German elements "mari" meaning "famous" and "liz" meaning "gentle" or "tender." It is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 6th to 8th centuries, in regions where Germanic languages were spoken, such as present-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marlise can be found in the annals of the Benedictine abbey of St. Gall in Switzerland, where a noble woman named Marlise von Bregenz was mentioned in the late 9th century. This suggests that the name was in use among the aristocratic classes of the time.
In the 12th century, a Benedictine nun named Marlise von Andechs was noted for her piety and devotion to her religious order. She lived in the Andechs Abbey in Bavaria, which was a prominent monastic center during the High Middle Ages.
During the Renaissance period, a notable figure named Marlise Truchsess von Waldburg (c. 1510-1580) was a German noblewoman and philanthropist who established several charitable foundations and hospitals in her native Swabia region.
In the 17th century, Marlise von Nassau-Siegen (1644-1708) was a German countess and the wife of Prince Johann Franz Desideratus of Nassau-Siegen. She played a significant role in the cultural and intellectual life of her time, hosting literary salons and corresponding with prominent thinkers.
Another historical figure with the name Marlise was Marlise von Flemming (1718-1782), a German aristocrat and writer who was part of the literary circle in the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia. She wrote poetry and was known for her wit and intellectual pursuits.
While the name Marlise has its roots in Germanic languages, it has also gained some popularity in other parts of Europe and beyond, although it remains relatively uncommon compared to more widely used names. The name's meaning and historical associations with gentleness and fame have likely contributed to its enduring appeal, particularly among those with Germanic cultural heritage.
People
Marlise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlise 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
Marlise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 313 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlise 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 1,095,062 US residents.
Is Marlise a common name?
We classify Marlise as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 364 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlise most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlise was 1962, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlise is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marlise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 489 people with the name Marlise, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,938 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 Marlise 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 Marlise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlise appears almost entirely female. Of the 488 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Marlise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlise is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Hispanic (14.1%). 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 Marlise most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marlise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.4% (305 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 Marlise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marlise a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marlise 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 Marlise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marlise 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 Marlise 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 Marlise?
Want to know how many Americans are named Marlise? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.