Marjory
A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 1,917 living Americans carry the first name Marjory. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marjory today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marjory births was 1921 (294 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marjory. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Marjory with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Marjory is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Marjorys were born before 1970.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 178,797 Americans
Peak year
1921
294 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,309
Tracked since 1887
Census
Marjory in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,473 people with the first name Marjory, which placed it at #5,070 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
#5,070
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,473 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marjory
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marjory is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Black (6.2%). 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 Marjory 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 Marjory at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 2,847
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 301
- Black or African American6.2% · 215
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 52
- Two or more races1.3% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 14
Popularity
Marjory: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marjory from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,473 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marjory 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 Marjory during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marjorys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. New York, Ohio, Michigan recorded the most babies named Marjory, while West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 150 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marjory
The name Marjory is of English origin, derived from the Old French name "Margerie", which itself comes from the Greek name "Margarites" meaning "pearl". This name dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in England and Scotland.
The earliest known record of the name Marjory appears in the 13th century, when it was used by Scottish nobles and members of the royal court. One of the most notable early bearers of this name was Marjorie Bruce, the daughter of King Robert the Bruce, who lived from 1297 to 1316.
In the 14th century, the name gained popularity among the English aristocracy. Marjory of Badlesmere, an English noblewoman, lived from around 1300 to 1363 and was known for her involvement in the Peasants' Revolt.
During the Renaissance period, the name Marjory continued to be used, though less commonly than its variants such as Margaret or Margery. One notable bearer was Marjory Fleming, a Scottish writer and poet who lived from 1803 to 1811 and is remembered for her precocious literary talents despite her short life.
In the 19th century, the name experienced a revival, particularly in Scotland. Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, a Scottish singer, and music collector, lived from 1857 to 1930 and played a significant role in preserving traditional Scottish songs and melodies.
Another famous Marjory was Marjory Stoneman Douglas, an American conservationist and writer who lived from 1890 to 1998. She is best known for her book "The Everglades: River of Grass", which helped raise awareness about the importance of preserving the Everglades ecosystem in Florida.
While not as common today as it once was, the name Marjory has a rich history and has been borne by notable figures across various fields throughout the centuries.
People
Marjory + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marjory 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
Marjory: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marjory?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,917 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marjory 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 178,797 US residents.
Is Marjory a common name?
We classify Marjory as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,158 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marjory most popular?
The single biggest year for Marjory was 1921, when 294 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marjory is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marjory in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,473 people with the name Marjory, or 1.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,070 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 Marjory 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 Marjory?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marjory appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,473 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Marjory?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marjory is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Black (6.2%). 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 Marjory most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marjory in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (2,847 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 Marjory in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marjory a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marjory 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 Marjory still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marjory 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 Marjory 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 Marjory?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.