Marne
A French name derived from the Marne River.
Name Census estimates that about 697 living Americans carry the first name Marne. It is a predominantly female name (95.7% of registrations). The average person named Marne today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marne births was 1969 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marne. 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
697
~ 1 in 491,757 Americans
Peak year
1969
67 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1953 SSA rank
#4,161
Tracked since 1918
Census
Marne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 868 people with the first name Marne, which placed it at #13,786 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
#13,786
National first-name rank
People counted
868
868 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marne is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Marne 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 Marne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 744
- Black or African American4.3% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 37
- Two or more races3.6% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Marne
Marne leans heavily female at 95.7% of total registrations, but 38 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Marne as a male name
- Ranked #4,161 in 1953
- 5 male births in 1953
- Peak: 1918 (17 births)
Marne as a female name
- Ranked #12,645 in 2000
- 7 female births in 2000
- Peak: 1969 (67 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marne leans strongly female. 824 people counted with this name were female (95.3%), compared with 41 male bearers (4.7%).
Popularity
Marne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marne from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 297 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marne 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 Marne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marnes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Marne, while New York, Illinois, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marne
The name Marne is a French given name with origins tracing back to the Roman era. It is derived from the Latin word "Marna," which referred to the Marne River in northeastern France. The river itself was named after the ancient Celtic word "marna," meaning "a rising ground" or "a small hill."
During the Roman occupation of Gaul, the Marne River played a significant role in transportation and trade. As a result, the name Marne gained prominence among the local population and was eventually adopted as a given name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marne can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, who mentioned a Gallic chieftain named Marne in his work "Historiae" (c. 109 AD). This suggests that the name was in use among the Celtic tribes of the region during the 1st century AD.
In the Middle Ages, the name Marne was associated with several historical figures. Marne de Jarnac (c. 1490-1561) was a French nobleman and military leader who served under King Francis I of France. He is known for his pivotal role in the Battle of Marignano in 1515.
Another notable figure was Marne de Croy (c. 1515-1594), a Flemish noblewoman who served as a lady-in-waiting to Mary of Hungary, the Regent of the Netherlands. She was known for her influential role in the political and cultural spheres of the Low Countries during the Renaissance period.
During the 19th century, the name Marne gained further recognition due to the Battle of the Marne, a crucial engagement in World War I. Marne Duportail (1889-1968) was a French aviator who served as a fighter pilot during the battle, earning the Croix de Guerre for his bravery.
Another notable figure with the name Marne was Marne Walter (1915-2005), a British artist and sculptor known for her abstract works and contributions to the St Ives School of art in Cornwall, England.
Marne Hausknecht (1928-2010) was an American educator and civil rights activist who fought for desegregation and equal educational opportunities in the United States during the mid-20th century.
While the name Marne has historical roots and significance, it is not as commonly used as a given name today, particularly outside of France and regions with strong French cultural influences.
People
Marne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marne 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
Marne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 697 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marne 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 491,757 US residents.
Is Marne a common name?
We classify Marne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 887 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marne most popular?
The single biggest year for Marne was 1969, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marne 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 Marne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 868 people with the name Marne, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,786 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 Marne 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 Marne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marne leans strongly female. 824 people counted with this name were female (95.3%), compared with 41 male bearers (4.7%). 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 Marne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marne is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Marne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (744 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 Marne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marne a female name?
Yes, 95.7% of people registered as Marne 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 Marne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marne 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 Marne 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 Marne?
Want to know how many people share the name Marne? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.