Marqueta
A feminine variant of the Spanish surname Marqués, meaning "marquise".
Name Census estimates that about 228 living Americans carry the first name Marqueta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marqueta today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marqueta births was 1983 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marqueta. 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
228
~ 1 in 1,503,309 Americans
Peak year
1983
28 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1997 SSA rank
#13,127
Tracked since 1942
Census
Marqueta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 267 people with the first name Marqueta, which placed it at #31,863 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
#31,863
National first-name rank
People counted
267
267 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
65.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marqueta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marqueta is Black at 65.5%. The next largest groups are White (26.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Marqueta 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 Marqueta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American65.5% · 175
- White26.6% · 71
- Two or more races4.5% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Marqueta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marqueta from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 135 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marqueta 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 Marqueta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marqueta
The given name Marqueta is believed to have originated from the Spanish language, with its roots tracing back to the medieval era in Spain. It is thought to be a feminine form of the name Marqués, which means "marquis" or a nobleman of high rank.
During the Middle Ages, the title of "marquis" was bestowed upon territorial lords who governed areas along the borders or marches of kingdoms. These territories were known as marquisates or marquessates. The name Marqueta likely emerged as a way to identify women associated with or descended from these noble families.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marqueta can be found in the chronicles of the Spanish city of Seville, dating back to the 14th century. In these records, a woman named Marqueta de Sanlúcar is mentioned as a prominent figure in the city's social and political circles.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marqueta. One such figure was Marqueta de Avellaneda, a Spanish writer and playwright who lived in the 16th century (1514-1589). She is renowned for her literary works, including the novel "The False Cousin," which challenged the conventions of her time.
Another prominent Marqueta was Marqueta Tennant (1897-1987), a British socialite and aristocrat. She was known for her extravagant lifestyle and her involvement in the arts and cultural circles of the early 20th century.
In the realm of religion, there was Marqueta Valdés (1510-1589), a Spanish noblewoman who played a significant role in the Counter-Reformation movement. She was a close friend and confidante of St. Teresa of Avila and supported the reforms of the Carmelite Order.
Moving into the modern era, Marqueta Sharpless (1911-1999) was an American artist and sculptor known for her abstract works and her involvement in the New York art scene of the mid-20th century.
Another notable figure was Marqueta Griggs (1928-2011), an American lawyer and civil rights activist. She was one of the first African American women to serve as a judge in the state of Michigan and was a prominent advocate for equal rights and social justice.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Marqueta throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural heritage associated with this name.
People
Marqueta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marqueta 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
Marqueta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marqueta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 228 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marqueta 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 1,503,309 US residents.
Is Marqueta a common name?
We classify Marqueta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 253 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marqueta most popular?
The single biggest year for Marqueta was 1983, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marqueta is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marqueta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 267 people with the name Marqueta, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,863 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 Marqueta 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 Marqueta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marqueta appears almost entirely female. Of the 266 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Marqueta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marqueta is Black at 65.5%. The next largest groups are White (26.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Marqueta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marqueta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.5% (175 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 Marqueta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marqueta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marqueta 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 Marqueta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marqueta 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 Marqueta 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 are named Marqueta?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.