Marleigh
A modern feminine name of uncertain meaning, perhaps a combination of "Mary" and "Leigh".
Name Census estimates that about 5,789 living Americans carry the first name Marleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marleigh today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marleigh births was 2021 (418 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marleigh. 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 Marleigh with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Marleigh is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
5.8K
~ 1 in 59,208 Americans
Peak year
2021
418 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#912
Tracked since 1985
Census
Marleigh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,564 people with the first name Marleigh, which placed it at #4,985 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
#4,985
National first-name rank
People counted
3.6K
3,564 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marleigh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marleigh is White at 68.1%. The next largest groups are Black (15.8%) and Two or More Races (8.2%). 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 Marleigh 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 Marleigh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.1% · 2,427
- Black or African American15.8% · 564
- Two or more races8.2% · 292
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 228
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 15
Popularity
Marleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marleigh from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,650 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Marleigh remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marleigh 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 Marleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Marleigh, while Oregon, Nebraska, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 123 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marleigh
The given name Marleigh is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the late 20th or early 21st century. It does not have a definitive origin rooted in any particular language or culture. The name appears to be a combination of the English names Marlene and Leigh, both of which have separate etymological roots.
Marlene is a German name derived from the late Germanic name Amal, meaning "work." The spelling variation Marlene emerged in the 19th century and gained popularity due to the German actress Marlene Dietrich. Leigh, on the other hand, is an English surname derived from the Old English word "leah," meaning a meadow or woodland clearing.
There are no known historical references or records of the name Marleigh itself appearing in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical documents. The earliest recorded examples of the name likely date back only a few decades at most, as it is a relatively modern creation.
Due to its recent origin, there are limited historical figures associated with the name Marleigh. However, here are five notable individuals who share similar names:
1. Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992), a German-American actress and singer known for her iconic roles in films such as "The Blue Angel" and "Witness for the Prosecution."
2. Leigh Hunt (1784-1859), an English essayist, poet, and critic who played a crucial role in the Romantic movement in English literature.
3. Marlene Favela (born 1976), a Mexican actress known for her roles in telenovelas such as "Gata Salvaje" and "La Mujer de Judas."
4. Leigh Brackett (1915-1978), an American writer and screenwriter who contributed to the scripts of iconic films like "The Big Sleep" and "Rio Bravo."
5. Marlene Wilders (born 1933), a Dutch singer and actress who represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957.
It is important to note that while these individuals share similar names or name components, they are not directly associated with the name Marleigh itself, as it is a relatively modern construct.
People
Marleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marleigh 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
Marleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,789 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marleigh 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 59,208 US residents.
Is Marleigh a common name?
We classify Marleigh as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,844 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Marleigh was 2021, when 418 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marleigh is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marleigh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,564 people with the name Marleigh, or 1.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,985 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 Marleigh 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 Marleigh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marleigh appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,553 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Marleigh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marleigh is White at 68.1%. The next largest groups are Black (15.8%) and Two or More Races (8.2%). 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 Marleigh most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marleigh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.1% (2,427 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 Marleigh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marleigh 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 Marleigh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marleigh 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 Marleigh 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 have the name Marleigh?
Find out how many Americans are named Marleigh on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.