Martine
Of French origin, referring to devoted of Mars, the Roman god of war.
Name Census estimates that about 2,378 living Americans carry the first name Martine. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Martine today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Martine births was 1981 (214 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Martine. 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
2.4K
~ 1 in 144,136 Americans
Peak year
1981
214 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,848
Tracked since 1894
Gender
Gender distribution for Martine
Martine leans heavily female at 89.6% of total registrations, but 313 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Martine as a male name
- Ranked #13,624 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1986 (13 births)
Martine as a female name
- Ranked #10,848 in 2023
- 9 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1981 (205 births)
Popularity
Martine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Martine from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 755 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Martine 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 Martine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Martines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Martine, while Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 61 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Martine
Martine is a French feminine given name derived from the ancient Roman family name Martinus. The name Martinus is derived from the name of the Roman god Mars, the god of war. It is believed that Martine and its variations originally referred to a female child dedicated to or born under the auspices of Mars.
The name Martine first appeared in French records in the 5th century CE. It gained popularity across Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The earliest recorded bearer of the name was Saint Martine of Arles, a 5th-century Christian martyr venerated in France.
In the 9th century, Martine de Bellesme was a French noblewoman and the wife of Roger de Montgommery, one of William the Conqueror's principal counselors. She played a significant role in the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
During the Renaissance, Martine de Bertereau (1590-1642) was a French noblewoman and writer known for her love poetry and her romantic involvement with the poet Théophile de Viau.
In the 18th century, Martine Gabrielle de Polastron (1749-1793) was a French aristocrat and one of the closest friends of Queen Marie Antoinette. She was guillotined during the French Revolution.
In the 20th century, Martine Carol (1920-1967) was a famous French actress and singer who appeared in over 40 films during the 1940s and 1950s. She was known for her sultry on-screen persona and was considered a French sex symbol of her time.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Martine
People
Martine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Martine 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
Martine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Martine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,378 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Martine 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 144,136 US residents.
Is Martine a common name?
We classify Martine as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,010 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Martine most popular?
The single biggest year for Martine was 1981, when 214 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Martine is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Martine a female name?
Yes, 89.6% of people registered as Martine 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.
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.