Marshon
An English masculine name perhaps derived from a combination of "marsh" and "son".
Name Census estimates that about 627 living Americans carry the first name Marshon. It is a predominantly male name (97.7% of registrations). The average person named Marshon today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marshon births was 1998 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marshon. 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
627
~ 1 in 546,658 Americans
Peak year
1998
26 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,076
Tracked since 1970
Census
Marshon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 531 people with the first name Marshon, which placed it at #19,755 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
#19,755
National first-name rank
People counted
531
531 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marshon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marshon is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.0%) and White (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 Marshon 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 Marshon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.1% · 452
- Two or more races6.0% · 32
- White5.1% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Marshon
Marshon leans heavily male at 97.7% of total registrations, but 15 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Marshon as a male name
- Ranked #7,076 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (26 births)
Marshon as a female name
- Ranked #14,378 in 1990
- 5 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1970 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marshon leans strongly male. 454 people counted with this name were male (85.2%), compared with 79 female bearers (14.8%).
Popularity
Marshon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marshon from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 167 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Marshon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marshon 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 Marshon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marshons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marshon
The name Marshon has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known languages spoken in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC. It is derived from the root words "mar" meaning "warrior" and "shon" meaning "protection" or "shield." Together, the name can be interpreted as "protected warrior" or "shielded fighter."
In ancient Sumerian texts, the name Marshon appears to have been used for warriors and soldiers who were part of the royal guard or elite military units. It was a name bestowed upon those who displayed exceptional bravery and skill in battle, as well as a commitment to protecting their people and their land.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Marshon can be found in the Sumerian King List, an ancient clay tablet that chronicles the rulers of various Sumerian city-states. The tablet mentions a king named Marshon who ruled over the city of Uruk around 2700 BC. While little is known about his reign, the inclusion of his name in this significant historical document suggests that he was a notable figure in his time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Marshon. One such individual was Marshon the Brave, a legendary Sumerian warrior who lived around 2500 BC. According to ancient tales, Marshon single-handedly defended his village from an invading army, earning him the nickname "the Brave" and cementing his status as a revered figure in Sumerian folklore.
Another notable figure was Marshon of Akkad, a military commander who served under the renowned king Sargon of Akkad around 2350 BC. Marshon was instrumental in many of Sargon's conquests and played a crucial role in the expansion of the Akkadian Empire, one of the earliest known empires in the ancient world.
In the realm of religion, the name Marshon appears in the Sumerian creation myth, the Enuma Elish. Here, Marshon is depicted as one of the warrior deities who assisted the god Marduk in defeating the primordial forces of chaos and establishing order in the universe.
Fast-forwarding to more recent times, one of the most famous individuals with the name Marshon was Marshon Lattimore, an American football cornerback who was born in 1996. Lattimore was a standout player at Ohio State University and was selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, where he continues to excel as a professional athlete.
While the name Marshon may not be as common in modern times, its rich history and meaning harkening back to ancient Sumerian warriors and protectors have endured throughout the ages, a testament to the lasting impact of this unique and powerful moniker.
People
Marshon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marshon 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
Marshon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marshon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 627 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marshon 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 546,658 US residents.
Is Marshon a common name?
We classify Marshon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 642 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marshon most popular?
The single biggest year for Marshon was 1998, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marshon is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marshon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 531 people with the name Marshon, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,755 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 Marshon 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 Marshon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marshon leans strongly male. 454 people counted with this name were male (85.2%), compared with 79 female bearers (14.8%). 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 Marshon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marshon is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.0%) and White (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 Marshon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marshon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (452 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 Marshon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marshon a male name?
Yes, 97.7% of people registered as Marshon 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 Marshon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marshon 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 Marshon 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 Marshon?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.