Maricella
A feminine name derived from the Latin "Maria" and the Spanish diminutive suffix "-cella".
Name Census estimates that about 1,607 living Americans carry the first name Maricella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maricella today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maricella births was 1998 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maricella. 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 213,288 Americans
Peak year
1998
57 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,739
Tracked since 1949
Census
Maricella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,830 people with the first name Maricella, which placed it at #8,048 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
#8,048
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,830 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maricella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maricella is Hispanic at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (3.2%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Maricella 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 Maricella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.3% · 1,726
- White3.2% · 58
- Black or African American0.9% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 14
- Two or more races0.5% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 6
Popularity
Maricella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maricella from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 392 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
Maricella 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 Maricella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maricellas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Maricella, while New Mexico, New York, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 191 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maricella
The name Maricella has its roots in the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Roman times. It is a feminine form derived from the Latin name Maria, which in turn comes from the Hebrew name Miryam. The name Maria has its origins in the biblical figure Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Maria gained widespread popularity across Europe and the Mediterranean region. As it spread to different regions and cultures, variations and diminutive forms of the name emerged, including Maricella. This particular form likely originated in Italy or Spain, where the use of diminutive suffixes like "-ella" was common.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maricella can be found in the written records of the Venetian Republic, dating back to the 14th century. A notable bearer of the name was Maricella Contarini, a noblewoman from Venice who lived in the late 15th century and was known for her patronage of the arts.
During the Renaissance period, the name Maricella gained popularity among the Italian nobility and upper classes. In the 16th century, a famous bearer of the name was Maricella Pignatelli, an Italian noblewoman and the Countess of Burrello, who was renowned for her beauty and intellect.
In Spain, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maricella dates back to the 17th century. A notable bearer was Maricella de Guzmán, a Spanish aristocrat and the Duchess of Medina Sidonia, who played a significant role in the political affairs of the Spanish monarchy during the reign of King Philip IV.
Another prominent figure with the name Maricella was Maricella Bacciarini, an Italian opera singer who lived in the late 18th century and performed in major opera houses across Europe. She was particularly renowned for her performances in the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
In the 19th century, a notable bearer of the name was Maricella Fernández de Córdova, a Mexican writer and feminist activist who fought for women's rights and education in her country during the late 1800s.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Maricella, a name with a rich heritage rooted in Latin and Christian traditions, and which has been carried by notable figures across various cultures and time periods.
People
Maricella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maricella 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
Maricella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maricella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,607 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maricella 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 213,288 US residents.
Is Maricella a common name?
We classify Maricella as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,704 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maricella most popular?
The single biggest year for Maricella was 1998, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maricella is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maricella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,830 people with the name Maricella, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,048 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 Maricella 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 Maricella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maricella appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,830 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Maricella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maricella is Hispanic at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (3.2%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Maricella most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Maricella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (1,726 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 Maricella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maricella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maricella 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 Maricella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maricella 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 Maricella 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 Americans are named Maricella?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.