Marsella
Of Latin origin, possibly meaning "little fierce one" or "little martial one".
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the first name Marsella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marsella today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marsella births was 1990 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marsella. 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
117
~ 1 in 2,929,524 Americans
Peak year
1990
8 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,934
Tracked since 1905
Census
Marsella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 339 people with the first name Marsella, which placed it at #27,134 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
#27,134
National first-name rank
People counted
339
339 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
49.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marsella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marsella is Hispanic at 49.6%. The next largest groups are White (29.8%) and Black (15.3%). 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 Marsella 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 Marsella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino49.6% · 168
- White29.8% · 101
- Black or African American15.3% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 6
- Two or more races0.3% · 1
Popularity
Marsella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marsella from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 34 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Marsella remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marsella 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 Marsella 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 Marsella
The name Marsella originates from the Latin word "Marsilia," which was the ancient Roman name for the city of Marseille in southern France. The name likely derives from the Greek words "massalia" or "massalia," meaning "settlement" or "colony." This suggests that Marsella may have been used as a name for individuals born in or associated with the ancient city of Marseille.
The earliest recorded use of the name Marsella dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was used as a feminine name in various parts of Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. It is possible that the name spread from the region around Marseille to other parts of the Mediterranean during this time period.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name Marsella was Marsella of Padua, an Italian philosopher and scholar who lived in the 13th century. She was known for her contributions to the study of Aristotelian philosophy and her role in promoting education for women.
Another historical figure with the name Marsella was Marsella de Cabrera, a Spanish noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. She was known for her involvement in the Aragonese Crusade and her support for the Kingdom of Aragon during the War of the Two Peters.
In the 16th century, Marsella Petrucci was an Italian painter and artist who was active in the city of Siena. She was known for her religious paintings and her contributions to the Renaissance art movement in Italy.
Moving to the 18th century, Marsella de la Cierva was a Spanish writer and intellectual who was involved in the Enlightenment movement in Spain. She wrote on topics such as education and the role of women in society.
Finally, in the 19th century, Marsella Sempere was a Spanish painter and artist who was known for her landscape paintings and her depictions of everyday life in Spain. She was part of the Realist movement and her works reflected the cultural and social changes taking place in Spain during that time period.
While these are just a few examples, the name Marsella has been used throughout history in various parts of Europe, particularly in regions with strong connections to the Mediterranean and the ancient city of Marseille.
People
Marsella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marsella 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
Marsella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marsella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marsella 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 2,929,524 US residents.
Is Marsella a common name?
We classify Marsella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 166 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marsella most popular?
The single biggest year for Marsella was 1990, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marsella is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marsella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 339 people with the name Marsella, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,134 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 Marsella 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 Marsella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marsella leans strongly female. 328 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 10 male bearers (3.0%). 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 Marsella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marsella is Hispanic at 49.6%. The next largest groups are White (29.8%) and Black (15.3%). 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 Marsella most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Marsella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.6% (168 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 Marsella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marsella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marsella 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 Marsella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marsella 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 Marsella 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 Marsella?
You can see how many people share the name Marsella on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.