Marquisha
A feminine name of French origin meaning "little one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,257 living Americans carry the first name Marquisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marquisha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marquisha births was 1993 (97 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marquisha. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 272,676 Americans
Peak year
1993
97 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2011 SSA rank
#18,569
Tracked since 1972
Census
Marquisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,008 people with the first name Marquisha, which placed it at #12,372 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
#12,372
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,008 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marquisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marquisha is Black at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Marquisha 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 Marquisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.5% · 932
- Two or more races3.2% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 27
- White0.8% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Popularity
Marquisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marquisha from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 653 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marquisha 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 Marquisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marquishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Texas, California, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Marquisha, while Pennsylvania, Missouri, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marquisha
The given name Marquisha is a modern African American creation, emerging in the late 20th century. Its origins can be traced back to a combination of the French prefix "mar-" and the English word "queen". The prefix "mar-" is derived from the Latin word "mare", meaning sea or ocean, while "queen" refers to a female monarch or sovereign ruler.
Marquisha is believed to have been coined as a unique and distinctive name, inspired by the growing cultural movement in the United States to embrace African American heritage and identity through names. It reflects a desire to bestow upon a child a name that conveys strength, power, and regal qualities.
Although a relatively new name, Marquisha has gained popularity within the African American community, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in birth records from the 1970s and 1980s.
Notably, Marquisha Shepherd was a professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Los Angeles Sparks in the early 2000s. Another individual bearing this name is Marquisha Keeys, a track and field athlete who competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, representing the United States.
Marquisha Deshauna Brilliant was a notable figure in the field of education, serving as a teacher and advocate for underprivileged children in Chicago during the late 20th century. Her efforts to promote literacy and provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth earned her widespread recognition and several accolades.
In the realm of literature, Marquisha Latrice Johnson is an acclaimed author and poet, known for her poignant works exploring themes of identity, resilience, and the African American experience. Her first collection of poems, "Voices Unbound," published in 2005, received critical acclaim and numerous literary awards.
Another notable figure is Marquisha Lashay Evens, a renowned civil rights activist and community organizer who played a pivotal role in the fight for racial equality and social justice in the late 20th century. Her influential work and advocacy efforts left an enduring impact on the civil rights movement.
People
Marquisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marquisha 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
Marquisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marquisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,257 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marquisha 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 272,676 US residents.
Is Marquisha a common name?
We classify Marquisha as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,314 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marquisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Marquisha was 1993, when 97 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marquisha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marquisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,008 people with the name Marquisha, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,372 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 Marquisha 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 Marquisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marquisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,005 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 Marquisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marquisha is Black at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Marquisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marquisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.5% (932 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 Marquisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marquisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marquisha 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 Marquisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marquisha 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 Marquisha 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 common is the name Marquisha?
You can see how many people have the name Marquisha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.