Marja
Scandinavian name derived from Mary, meaning "beloved" or "wished-for child".
Name Census estimates that about 367 living Americans carry the first name Marja. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marja today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marja births was 1978 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marja. 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
367
~ 1 in 933,936 Americans
Peak year
1978
45 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1999 SSA rank
#13,778
Tracked since 1921
Census
Marja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 757 people with the first name Marja, which placed it at #15,253 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
#15,253
National first-name rank
People counted
757
757 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marja is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Black (12.2%) and Hispanic (11.8%). 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 Marja 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 Marja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.3% · 540
- Black or African American12.2% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino11.8% · 89
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 21
- Two or more races2.0% · 15
Popularity
Marja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marja from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 113 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Marja remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marja 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 Marja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marjas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marja
The name Marja is of Finnish origin, derived from the biblical name Maria, which itself has Hebrew roots meaning "sea of bitterness" or "beloved lady." The Finnish form Marja emerged as a shortened version of Maria, likely during the Middle Ages when Christianity spread to the region.
In Finland, the name Marja has been popular for centuries, carrying cultural significance as a nod to the country's Christian heritage. It was particularly widespread among the Finnish peasantry and working class, often bestowed upon daughters as a traditional and familiar name choice.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marja can be found in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, which was compiled from ancient folk poetry in the 19th century. In the epic, Marja is mentioned as the name of a young woman, though her role in the narrative is minor.
Throughout history, several notable Finnish women have borne the name Marja. One of the earliest was Marja Jalkanen (1785-1865), a pioneering Finnish businesswoman and entrepreneur who established a successful textile trade in the early 19th century.
Another prominent Marja was Marja-Liisa Vartio (1924-1966), a highly acclaimed Finnish author known for her modernist novels and short stories. Her works explored themes of existentialism and the human condition, earning her critical praise and numerous literary awards during her lifetime.
In the realm of politics, Marja Lintonen (1938-2022) was a respected Finnish diplomat and politician who served as the country's first female Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2000. She played a crucial role in Finland's accession to the European Union and worked tirelessly to promote human rights and gender equality on the global stage.
Marja-Leena Raunio (1945-2022) was a Finnish artist and sculptor whose works explored the intersection of art and technology. Her innovative sculptures, often incorporating lights and movement, earned her international recognition and a place in prestigious collections worldwide.
Finally, Marja Liisa Kirvesniemi (born 1962) is a Finnish cross-country skier and Olympic gold medalist. She won multiple medals at the Winter Olympics and World Championships throughout her illustrious career, cementing her status as one of Finland's most celebrated athletes.
People
Marja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marja 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
Marja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 367 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marja 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 933,936 US residents.
Is Marja a common name?
We classify Marja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 437 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marja most popular?
The single biggest year for Marja was 1978, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marja is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 757 people with the name Marja, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,253 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 Marja 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 Marja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marja leans strongly female. 750 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 9 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Marja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marja is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Black (12.2%) and Hispanic (11.8%). 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 Marja most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.3% (540 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 Marja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marja a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marja 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 Marja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marja 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 Marja 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 are named Marja?
Find out how many Americans are named Marja on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.