Marlo
A feminine given name derived from Marlene, of German origin meaning "from the pleasant meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 9,550 living Americans carry the first name Marlo. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Marlo today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlo births was 1970 (635 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlo. 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
9.6K
~ 1 in 35,891 Americans
Peak year
1970
635 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,689
Tracked since 1915
Gender
Gender distribution for Marlo
Marlo is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 10,738 total registrations, 3,583 (33.4%) were male and 7,155 (66.6%) were female.
Marlo as a male name
- Ranked #1,689 in 2024
- 99 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (105 births)
Marlo as a female name
- Ranked #1,707 in 2024
- 119 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (593 births)
Popularity
Marlo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlo from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 3,201 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Marlo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marlo 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 Marlo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Marlo, while Delaware, South Dakota, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 134 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marlo
The name Marlo has its origins in the Italian language, deriving from the Latin name Marius. It is believed to have originated during the Roman Empire, as Marius was a prominent Roman family name.
Marius was a Latin praenomen, or personal name, that may have derived from the Latin word "mas," meaning male or masculine. It was a popular name among Roman families, particularly those of high social status.
One of the earliest and most notable historical references to the name Marius is Gaius Marius, a Roman general and statesman who lived from 157 BC to 86 BC. He was a prominent figure in the Roman Republic and played a significant role in the Jugurthine War and the Cimbric War.
Another famous bearer of the name Marius was Pope Marius I, who served as the Bishop of Rome from 308 to 309 AD. He is known for his efforts to maintain unity within the early Christian church during a period of persecution.
In the Middle Ages, the name Marlo emerged as a variant of Marius, particularly in Italy. One of the earliest recorded examples of this variant was Marlo Carletti, an Italian merchant and explorer who lived in the 16th century and traveled to the East Indies.
During the Renaissance period, the name Marlo gained popularity among Italian artists and intellectuals. Marlo Fiore, an Italian painter and architect who lived from 1470 to 1528, was a notable figure of this time.
In the 19th century, the name Marlo became more widespread across Europe and was adopted in various languages and cultures. Marlo Prévost, a French writer and literary critic, lived from 1809 to 1892 and was a prominent figure in the Romantic movement.
As the name Marlo spread, it was used by individuals from different backgrounds and professions. Marlo Lewis, an American environmental scholar and policy analyst, was born in 1964 and has made significant contributions to the field of environmental economics.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Marlo
People
Marlo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlo 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
Marlo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,550 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlo 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 35,891 US residents.
Is Marlo a common name?
We classify Marlo as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,738 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlo most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlo was 1970, when 635 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlo is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Marlo a female name?
Yes, 66.6% of people registered as Marlo 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.
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.