Marshel
A masculine name derived from the Old French word "maresc", meaning "marshal" or "military leader".
Name Census estimates that about 157 living Americans carry the first name Marshel. It is a predominantly male name (97.7% of registrations). The average person named Marshel today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marshel births was 1923 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marshel. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Marshel is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Marshels were born before 1965.
People living today
157
~ 1 in 2,183,149 Americans
Peak year
1923
20 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1989 SSA rank
#7,140
Tracked since 1911
Census
Marshel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 284 people with the first name Marshel, which placed it at #30,583 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
#30,583
National first-name rank
People counted
284
284 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marshel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marshel is White at 55.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.5%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Marshel 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 Marshel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.3% · 157
- Black or African American33.5% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 15
- Two or more races3.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Marshel
Marshel leans heavily male at 97.7% of total registrations, but 12 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Marshel as a male name
- Ranked #8,770 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1923 (20 births)
Marshel as a female name
- Ranked #7,140 in 1969
- 6 female births in 1969
- Peak: 1959 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Marshel on both sides of the split. Of the 284 people counted with this name, 204 were male (71.8%) and 80 were female (28.2%).
Popularity
Marshel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marshel from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 158 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marshel 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 Marshel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marshels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marshel
The name Marshel is believed to have originated from the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is thought to be derived from the combination of two words – "mær" meaning "famous" and "sceal" meaning "servant" or "attendant." The name was initially associated with individuals who served distinguished households or were part of the nobility's entourage.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marshel can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record compiled in the late 9th century. The chronicle mentions a Marshel who was a trusted aide to King Aethelred the Unready during the Viking invasions of England in the early 11th century.
In the 12th century, a monk named Marshel of Canterbury is noted for his contributions to the preservation of ancient manuscripts and his work in the scriptorium of Canterbury Cathedral. He is credited with transcribing several important religious texts and historical documents.
During the reign of King Edward III in the 14th century, a knight named Marshel de Montfort was a prominent figure in the English court. He served as a military commander and was known for his valor in the Hundred Years' War against France.
In the 16th century, a Marshel Smythe was a renowned playwright and poet in Elizabethan England. His works were praised for their wit and insight into the human condition, although few of his original manuscripts have survived to modern times.
Another notable individual with the name Marshel was a Dutch explorer and navigator, Marshel van der Meer, who accompanied Abel Tasman on his voyages to the South Pacific in the 17th century. Van der Meer's detailed accounts and maps of the newly discovered lands were instrumental in expanding the geographic knowledge of the era.
While the name Marshel has fallen out of widespread use in recent times, it carries a rich historical legacy, reflecting the varied roles and achievements of those who bore this moniker throughout the centuries.
People
Marshel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marshel 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
Marshel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marshel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marshel 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 2,183,149 US residents.
Is Marshel a common name?
We classify Marshel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 533 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marshel most popular?
The single biggest year for Marshel was 1923, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marshel is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marshel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 284 people with the name Marshel, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,583 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 Marshel 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 Marshel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Marshel on both sides of the split. Of the 284 people counted with this name, 204 were male (71.8%) and 80 were female (28.2%). 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 Marshel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marshel is White at 55.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.5%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Marshel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marshel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.3% (157 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 Marshel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marshel a male name?
Yes, 97.7% of people registered as Marshel 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 Marshel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marshel 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 Marshel 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 have Marshel as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.