Marshal
The name of French origin signifying a high-ranking military officer.
Name Census estimates that about 4,052 living Americans carry the first name Marshal. It is a predominantly male name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Marshal today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marshal births was 1999 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marshal. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Marshal with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Marshal is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 74 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 84,589 Americans
Peak year
1999
95 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,304
Tracked since 1880
Census
Marshal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,859 people with the first name Marshal, which placed it at #4,710 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
#4,710
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,859 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marshal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marshal is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Marshal 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 Marshal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.9% · 3,006
- Black or African American8.4% · 323
- Two or more races5.1% · 196
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 191
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 97
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 46
Gender
Gender distribution for Marshal
Marshal leans heavily male at 98.7% of total registrations, but 74 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Marshal as a male name
- Ranked #3,304 in 2024
- 36 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (95 births)
Marshal as a female name
- Ranked #8,637 in 1975
- 6 female births in 1975
- Peak: 1954 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marshal leans strongly male. 3,734 people counted with this name were male (96.9%), compared with 121 female bearers (3.1%).
Popularity
Marshal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marshal from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 834 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
Marshal 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 Marshal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marshals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. Texas, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Marshal, while Utah, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marshal
The name Marshal originated from the Old French word "mareschal," which was derived from the Germanic words "marhskalk" or "marascalc." These words initially referred to a stable officer responsible for tending to horses and overseeing operations in a nobleman's stables or cavalry. The name eventually came to signify a high-ranking military officer or commander.
In the early Middle Ages, the term "mareschal" was used to denote a specific rank in the feudal hierarchy, typically the highest non-noble rank in charge of maintaining horses and organizing military campaigns. As warfare evolved, the role of the Marshal became more prominent, and they often served as advisors and commanders to kings and nobles.
One of the earliest known references to the name Marshal can be found in the Old English poem "Beowulf," where the character Hræfnawudu is described as a "marescalc." This text dates back to the 8th or 9th century, suggesting the name's usage during the Anglo-Saxon period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the first name Marshal. One of the most famous was Marshal Ney (1769-1815), a French military leader who played a crucial role in many of Napoleon's campaigns and was later executed for his role in the Napoleonic Wars.
Another prominent figure was Marshal Zhukov (1896-1974), a Soviet military commander who played a pivotal role in the victory against Nazi Germany during World War II. He is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished military leaders in modern history.
In the United States, Marshal Pershing (1860-1948) was a highly respected Army officer who led the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. He was instrumental in modernizing the U.S. Army and is remembered for his leadership and strategic vision.
Marshal Tito (1892-1980), born Josip Broz, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman who led the Partisan resistance against the Axis powers during World War II and later served as the President of Yugoslavia until his death.
Finally, Marshal Petain (1856-1951) was a French military leader who played a significant role in World War I but later collaborated with the Nazi regime during World War II, leading to his imprisonment and eventual pardon in 1973.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the first name Marshal, a name that has become synonymous with military leadership, strategy, and command.
People
Marshal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marshal 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
Marshal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marshal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,052 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marshal 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 84,589 US residents.
Is Marshal a common name?
We classify Marshal as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,525 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marshal most popular?
The single biggest year for Marshal was 1999, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marshal is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marshal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,859 people with the name Marshal, or 1.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,710 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 Marshal 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 Marshal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marshal leans strongly male. 3,734 people counted with this name were male (96.9%), compared with 121 female bearers (3.1%). 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 Marshal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marshal is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Marshal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marshal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.9% (3,006 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 Marshal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marshal a male name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Marshal 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.
Is Marshal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marshal 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 Marshal 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 called Marshal?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.