Marlie
A diminutive form of the name Marlene, derived from Mary.
Name Census estimates that about 4,322 living Americans carry the first name Marlie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marlie today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marlie births was 2009 (306 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marlie. 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 Marlie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Marlie is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.3K
~ 1 in 79,305 Americans
Peak year
2009
306 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,580
Tracked since 1937
Census
Marlie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,585 people with the first name Marlie, which placed it at #4,955 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
#4,955
National first-name rank
People counted
3.6K
3,585 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marlie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlie is White at 65.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.6%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Marlie 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 Marlie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.0% · 2,330
- Black or African American13.6% · 488
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 398
- Two or more races7.4% · 264
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 29
Popularity
Marlie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marlie from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,819 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Marlie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marlie 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 Marlie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marlies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Marlie, while Nevada, Montana, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 67 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marlie
The name Marlie is a feminine given name of English origin, derived from the combination of the names Mary and Lily. It gained popularity in the late 20th century as a unique variation of the more traditional names Mary and Marie.
The name Mary has its roots in the Hebrew name Miryam, which is believed to be derived from the ancient Egyptian words "mer," meaning beloved, and "iamu," meaning wished-for child. The name Lily, on the other hand, is derived from the Greek word "leirion," meaning lily flower.
While there are no direct historical references to the name Marlie itself, the components of the name have a rich history. The name Mary has been widely used in various cultures and religions, particularly in Christianity, where it is associated with the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. The lily flower has also been a significant symbol in many cultures, representing purity, innocence, and fertility.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Marlie can be found in the late 19th century, when it appeared as a character's name in the novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1886.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marlie:
1. Marlie Douglass (1888-1962), an American actress and singer known for her performances in vaudeville and Broadway productions.
2. Marlie Becker (1901-1985), a German-American artist and sculptor renowned for her abstract expressionist works.
3. Marlie Ours (1923-2016), an American politician who served as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1971 to 1978.
4. Marlie Reis (1932-2022), a Brazilian actress and television presenter who appeared in numerous telenovelas and films throughout her career.
5. Marlie Centawer (born 1949), an American visual artist and photographer known for her experimental techniques and exploration of light and color.
The name Marlie has a unique blend of traditional and modern elements, combining the timeless appeal of the names Mary and Lily with a fresh and distinctive sound. While it may not have a long historical lineage, its components carry rich cultural and symbolic significance, making it a captivating choice for parents seeking a name with depth and character.
People
Marlie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marlie 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
Marlie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marlie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,322 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marlie 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 79,305 US residents.
Is Marlie a common name?
We classify Marlie as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,389 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marlie most popular?
The single biggest year for Marlie was 2009, when 306 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marlie is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marlie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,585 people with the name Marlie, or 1.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,955 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 Marlie 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 Marlie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marlie leans strongly female. 3,525 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 52 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Marlie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marlie is White at 65.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.6%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Marlie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marlie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.0% (2,330 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 Marlie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marlie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marlie 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 Marlie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marlie 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 Marlie 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 Marlie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.