Maranda
A feminine name possibly derived from the Latin mirandus meaning "wonderful" or "admirable".
Name Census estimates that about 10,755 living Americans carry the first name Maranda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maranda today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maranda births was 1994 (616 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maranda. 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
11K
~ 1 in 31,869 Americans
Peak year
1994
616 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,744
Tracked since 1886
Census
Maranda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,624 people with the first name Maranda, which placed it at #2,526 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
#2,526
National first-name rank
People counted
9.6K
9,624 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maranda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maranda is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.4%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Maranda 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 Maranda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.4% · 6,963
- Black or African American12.4% · 1,196
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 781
- Two or more races5.0% · 485
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 132
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 67
Popularity
Maranda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maranda 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 4,502 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
Maranda 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 Maranda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marandas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Georgia recorded the most babies named Maranda, while New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 232 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maranda
The name Maranda is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "mara," which means "death" or "destruction," and the word "anda," which means "egg" or "source of life." Together, the name Maranda can be interpreted to mean "the source of life and death" or "the cycle of life and death."
In Hindu mythology, there are references to a goddess named Maranda, who was associated with fertility, childbirth, and the cycle of life and death. This goddess was often depicted holding an egg or a child, symbolizing the creation of new life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maranda can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas, which date back to around 1500 BCE. In these texts, there are mentions of a sage or rishi named Maranda, who was revered for his wisdom and spiritual teachings.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Maranda. One of the earliest was Maranda Gupta, a powerful ruler of the Gupta Empire in ancient India, who reigned from around 415 CE to 455 CE. He was known for his military conquests and for patronizing the arts and literature.
Another famous Maranda was Maranda Rishi, a renowned Indian philosopher and spiritual teacher who lived in the 7th century CE. He is credited with writing several influential texts on Hindu philosophy and spirituality.
In the 12th century, there was a Maranda who served as a military commander and advisor to the Rajput ruler Prithviraj Chauhan. He played a significant role in the battles against the invading Muslim forces led by Muhammad of Ghor.
During the Renaissance period in Europe, there was an Italian painter named Maranda Naldi, who was active in the 16th century. She was known for her portraits and religious paintings, and her works can be found in various churches and museums in Italy.
In more recent times, there was a Maranda Pryce, an American civil rights activist and educator who lived from 1910 to 2002. She was a prominent figure in the struggle for racial equality and played a crucial role in desegregating schools in the United States.
While the name Maranda has its roots in ancient India, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and regions around the world, with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation.
People
Maranda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maranda 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
Maranda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maranda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,755 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maranda 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 31,869 US residents.
Is Maranda a common name?
We classify Maranda as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,431 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maranda most popular?
The single biggest year for Maranda was 1994, when 616 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maranda is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maranda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,624 people with the name Maranda, or 3.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,526 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 Maranda 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 Maranda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maranda appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,628 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Maranda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maranda is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.4%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Maranda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maranda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.4% (6,963 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 Maranda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maranda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maranda 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.
Is Maranda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maranda 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 Maranda 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 common is the name Maranda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.