Marquetta
A feminine name of French origin meaning "little marquise".
Name Census estimates that about 1,825 living Americans carry the first name Marquetta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marquetta today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marquetta births was 1984 (91 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marquetta. 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
1.8K
~ 1 in 187,811 Americans
Peak year
1984
91 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2015 SSA rank
#15,725
Tracked since 1929
Census
Marquetta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,717 people with the first name Marquetta, which placed it at #8,446 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
#8,446
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,717 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
76.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marquetta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marquetta is Black at 76.2%. The next largest groups are White (17.2%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Marquetta 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 Marquetta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American76.2% · 1,309
- White17.2% · 296
- Two or more races3.2% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 2
Popularity
Marquetta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marquetta from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 688 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marquetta 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 Marquetta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marquettas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Ohio, Illinois, Alabama recorded the most babies named Marquetta, while Tennessee, South Carolina, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marquetta
The name Marquetta has its origins in the French language and culture, first emerging in the late 17th century. It is derived from the French word "marquis," which means "marquess" or a nobleman holding a rank just below that of a duke. The name likely originated as a feminine variation of the masculine name Marquis or Marc.
In the early 18th century, the name Marquetta began appearing in various historical records and documents in France and other parts of Europe. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Marquetta de Beaumont, a French noblewoman born in 1705, who was known for her philanthropic work and efforts to support education for underprivileged children.
Another notable figure named Marquetta was Marquetta von Bredow, a German aristocrat born in 1792, who played a significant role in the Prussian resistance against Napoleon's occupation during the Napoleonic Wars. Her courage and determination were celebrated in contemporary accounts of the time.
In the world of literature, Marquetta Clarisse was a fictional character in the 19th-century novel "The Marchioness of Brinvilliers" by Alexandre Dumas. This novel, based on the life of an infamous French aristocrat convicted of multiple poisonings, contributed to the recognition of the name Marquetta in popular culture.
Moving into the 20th century, Marquetta Goodwine was an American singer and actress born in 1918, who gained fame for her performances in various Broadway musicals and productions during the 1940s and 1950s.
Lastly, Marquetta Narine was a Guyanese artist and sculptor born in 1936, known for her distinctive works that celebrated the cultural heritage and traditions of her native country. Her sculptures and installations were widely exhibited and acclaimed throughout the Caribbean region and beyond.
While the name Marquetta has seen some popularity over the centuries, it has remained relatively uncommon compared to other more widely used names. Nevertheless, it carries a rich history and associations with nobility, artistic expression, and cultural significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Marquetta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marquetta 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
Marquetta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marquetta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,825 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marquetta 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 187,811 US residents.
Is Marquetta a common name?
We classify Marquetta as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,130 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marquetta most popular?
The single biggest year for Marquetta was 1984, when 91 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marquetta is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marquetta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,717 people with the name Marquetta, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,446 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 Marquetta 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 Marquetta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marquetta appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,724 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Marquetta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marquetta is Black at 76.2%. The next largest groups are White (17.2%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Marquetta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marquetta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.2% (1,309 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 Marquetta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marquetta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marquetta 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 Marquetta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marquetta 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 Marquetta 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 Marquetta?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.