Marysue
A feminine English name meaning "extraordinary or exemplary woman".
Name Census estimates that about 264 living Americans carry the first name Marysue. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marysue today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marysue births was 1960 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marysue. 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 Marysue is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Marysues were born before 1968.
People living today
264
~ 1 in 1,298,312 Americans
Peak year
1960
23 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2016 SSA rank
#17,925
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Marysue: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marysue from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 126 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marysue 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 Marysue during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marysues live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marysue
The name Marysue is a relatively modern name, originating in the 20th century. It is a compound name created by combining the two separate names Mary and Sue. Mary is a feminine given name of Hebrew origin, derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam. The name Sue is a diminutive form of the name Susan, which is derived from the Hebrew name Shoshana, meaning "lily" or "rose."
The name Marysue does not have any direct historical references or appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures. It is a more recent invention, likely created as a combination of two popular feminine names in the English-speaking world.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Marysue can be found in the work of science fiction author A.E. van Vogt, who used the term "Mary Sue" in his 1944 short story "The Voyage of the Space Beagle" to describe a character who was an idealized and unrealistically perfect projection of the author's personal wish-fulfillment fantasies. This usage of "Mary Sue" as a literary criticism term became popular in fan fiction circles, where it referred to a character who was overly idealized and lacked flaws or depth.
While the name Marysue itself does not have a long historical lineage, it's worth mentioning a few notable women who have borne the name:
1. Marysue Milliken (born 1935), an American actress and former model.
2. Marysue Barrett (born 1956), an American politician who served as the 25th Secretary of State of Wisconsin.
3. Marysue Burgess (born 1960), an American politician who served as the Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, from 1993 to 1999.
4. Marysue Hanaher (born 1969), an American politician who served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives.
5. Marysue Bravo (born 1974), an American politician who served as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives.
While the name Marysue may not have a rich historical background, it has gained some prominence in modern times, particularly in the United States, where it has been used as a given name for several notable individuals in various fields.
People
Marysue + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marysue 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
Marysue: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marysue?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 264 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marysue 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 1,298,312 US residents.
Is Marysue a common name?
We classify Marysue as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 440 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marysue most popular?
The single biggest year for Marysue was 1960, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marysue is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Marysue a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marysue 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.