Marquita
A feminine name derived from the Spanish title "marquesa" meaning "noblewoman".
Name Census estimates that about 9,785 living Americans carry the first name Marquita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marquita today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marquita births was 1983 (2,563 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marquita. 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
9.8K
~ 1 in 35,029 Americans
Peak year
1983
2,563 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1989 SSA rank
#5,052
Tracked since 1919
Census
Marquita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,778 people with the first name Marquita, which placed it at #2,676 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
#2,676
National first-name rank
People counted
8.8K
8,778 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marquita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marquita is Black at 81.1%. The next largest groups are White (10.5%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Marquita 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 Marquita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.1% · 7,120
- White10.5% · 919
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 346
- Two or more races3.2% · 284
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 83
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 26
Gender
Gender distribution for Marquita
Out of the 11,040 babies given the name Marquita since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Marquita as a male name
- Ranked #5,052 in 1989
- 10 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1983 (20 births)
Marquita as a female name
- Ranked #15,726 in 2015
- 6 female births in 2015
- Peak: 1983 (2,543 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marquita appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,771 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Marquita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marquita from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 6,288 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
Marquita 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 Marquita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marquitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. Illinois, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Marquita, while Oregon, West Virginia, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 231 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marquita
Marquita is a feminine given name with roots in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. It is derived from the ancient Roman name Marcia, which itself originated from the Roman family name Marcius. The name Marcia was borne by several notable Roman women, including Marcia, the wife of the Roman general Cato the Younger.
The name Marquita emerged as a diminutive form of Marcia, with the addition of the Spanish and Portuguese diminutive suffix "-ita". This suffix was commonly used to create affectionate or endearing versions of names, often indicating smallness or youthfulness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marquita can be found in the 16th century, when it appeared in various Spanish and Portuguese records. During this time, the name was primarily confined to the Iberian Peninsula and the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marquita. One of the earliest was Marquita Tenorio (1522-1589), a Spanish noblewoman and lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella of Portugal. Another early bearer of the name was Marquita de Guzmán (1555-1628), a Spanish nun and mystic who founded the Order of the Conception of Our Lady.
In the 19th century, Marquita Fernández (1820-1892) was a Cuban poet and writer who was part of the literary movement known as the "Romantics of Havana". She was renowned for her lyrical poetry and her contributions to the development of Cuban literature.
Marquita Pring (1884-1964) was an American artist and illustrator who was particularly known for her illustrations in children's books. Her work appeared in publications such as St. Nicholas Magazine and The Delineator.
Marquita Plachetka (1917-2005) was a German-born American mezzo-soprano who had a distinguished career in opera and concert performances. She was particularly acclaimed for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner.
While the name Marquita has seen some use throughout history, it has never been among the most popular given names. However, its origins and historical references reflect the rich cultural heritage of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking worlds, where the name has its deepest roots.
People
Marquita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marquita 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
Marquita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marquita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,785 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marquita 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 35,029 US residents.
Is Marquita a common name?
We classify Marquita as "Rare". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,040 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marquita most popular?
The single biggest year for Marquita was 1983, when 2,563 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marquita is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marquita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,778 people with the name Marquita, or 2.91 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,676 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 Marquita 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 Marquita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marquita appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,771 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Marquita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marquita is Black at 81.1%. The next largest groups are White (10.5%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Marquita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marquita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (7,120 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 Marquita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marquita a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Marquita 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 Marquita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marquita 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 Marquita 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 Marquita?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.