Marquez
A masculine Spanish name derived from the Spanish title "marqués" meaning "marquis" or "marquess".
Name Census estimates that about 5,488 living Americans carry the first name Marquez. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Marquez today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marquez births was 1998 (258 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marquez. 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
5.5K
~ 1 in 62,455 Americans
Peak year
1998
258 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,303
Tracked since 1969
Gender
Gender distribution for Marquez
Out of the 5,599 babies given the name Marquez since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Marquez as a male name
- Ranked #3,303 in 2024
- 36 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (258 births)
Marquez as a female name
- Ranked #14,374 in 1990
- 5 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1990 (5 births)
Popularity
Marquez: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marquez from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,925 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marquez 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 Marquez during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marquez' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. Georgia, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Marquez, while West Virginia, Washington, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 153 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marquez
The name Marquez originated from the Spanish language and has its roots in the Medieval period. It is derived from the word "marqués," which means "marquis" or "lord of the marches." The marches were the borderlands between Christian and Moorish territories during the Reconquista, the period of Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim Moors.
In Spain, the title of marquis was a noble rank, and the name Marquez was initially used to refer to the sons or descendants of a marquis. As such, it carried a connotation of nobility and prestige. The earliest recorded use of the name Marquez dates back to the 13th century, during the height of the Reconquista.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Marquez was Álvaro de Luna (1388-1453), a Spanish nobleman and constable of Castile during the reign of King John II. He was a powerful figure in the court and played a significant role in the political intrigues of his time.
Another historical figure was Fray Marcos de Niza (c. 1495-1558), a Franciscan friar and explorer who is credited with being the first European to describe the region that would later become the American Southwest. His expedition in 1539 helped pave the way for future Spanish exploration and colonization of the area.
In the literary world, Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant authors of the 20th century and is best known for his novels, including "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera." He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982.
In the realm of sports, Rafael Márquez (born 1979) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defender. He represented Mexico in four World Cups and is considered one of the greatest Mexican players of all time. He also had a successful club career, playing for teams like Barcelona and Monaco.
Another notable figure was Antonio de Mendoza Marquez (1603-1661), a Spanish painter who specialized in still-life paintings. He was part of the Golden Age of Spanish art and is known for his realistic depictions of everyday objects, such as fruits, vegetables, and kitchen utensils.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Marquez, reflecting its enduring presence and connections to nobility, exploration, literature, sports, and the arts.
People
Marquez + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marquez 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
Marquez: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marquez?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,488 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marquez 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 62,455 US residents.
Is Marquez a common name?
We classify Marquez as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,599 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marquez most popular?
The single biggest year for Marquez was 1998, when 258 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marquez is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Marquez a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Marquez in the SSA data are male. 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.