Marge
A feminine name derived from the French name Marguerite, meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 1,041 living Americans carry the first name Marge. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marge today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marge births was 1941 (114 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marge. 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 Marge is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Marges were born before 1960.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 329,255 Americans
Peak year
1941
114 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1976 SSA rank
#10,217
Tracked since 1889
Census
Marge in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,983 people with the first name Marge, which placed it at #4,610 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
#4,610
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
3,983 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marge
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marge is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Marge 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 Marge at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.6% · 3,488
- Black or African American4.3% · 171
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 170
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 75
- Two or more races1.5% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 21
Popularity
Marge: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marge from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 820 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marge 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 Marge during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marges live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Illinois, Ohio, Michigan recorded the most babies named Marge, while Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 127 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marge
The name Marge originates from the French name Marguerite, which was derived from the Greek word "margarites" meaning pearl. This name was popular among the ancient Greeks and Romans, who often used it as a nickname for women named Margarita or Margaret.
The earliest recorded use of the name Marge dates back to the 12th century in France, where it was commonly used as a diminutive form of Marguerite. Over time, the spelling evolved from Marge to Margot and eventually became a standalone name.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Marge was Margot of Navarre, also known as Marguerite de Navarre, who lived from 1492 to 1549. She was a prominent Renaissance writer, feminist, and the sister of King Francis I of France.
In the 16th century, the name Marge gained popularity in England, where it was often used as a shortened version of Margaret. One of the most famous English women with this name was Marge Shelton, a noblewoman and cousin of Anne Boleyn, who lived from around 1508 to 1570.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Marge remained relatively uncommon, but it saw a resurgence in the 19th century. One notable figure from this period was Marge Fuller, an American writer and women's rights activist who lived from 1810 to 1850.
In the 20th century, the name Marge became more widely used, particularly in the United States. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Marge Simpson, the fictional matriarch of the popular animated television series "The Simpsons," which debuted in 1989.
Another notable Marge from the 20th century was Marge Schott, an American businesswoman and former owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, who lived from 1928 to 2004. She was known for her controversial remarks and was eventually forced to sell the team due to her offensive comments.
People
Marge + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marge 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
Marge: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marge?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,041 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marge 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 329,255 US residents.
Is Marge a common name?
We classify Marge as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,784 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marge most popular?
The single biggest year for Marge was 1941, when 114 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marge is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marge in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,983 people with the name Marge, or 1.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,610 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 Marge 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 Marge?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marge appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,993 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Marge?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marge is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Marge most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marge in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (3,488 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 Marge in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marge a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marge 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 Marge still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marge 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 Marge 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 share the name Marge?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.