Marshay
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly from the French word "marche" meaning "march".
Name Census estimates that about 747 living Americans carry the first name Marshay. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Marshay today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marshay births was 1992 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marshay. 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
747
~ 1 in 458,841 Americans
Peak year
1992
44 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
1987 SSA rank
#7,718
Tracked since 1975
Census
Marshay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 717 people with the first name Marshay, which placed it at #15,898 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
#15,898
National first-name rank
People counted
717
717 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marshay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marshay is Black at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and White (2.6%). 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 Marshay 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 Marshay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.8% · 651
- Two or more races3.6% · 26
- White2.6% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Marshay
Out of the 770 babies given the name Marshay since 1880, 99.4% 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.
Marshay as a male name
- Ranked #7,718 in 1987
- 5 male births in 1987
- Peak: 1987 (5 births)
Marshay as a female name
- Ranked #13,093 in 2022
- 7 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1992 (44 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marshay leans strongly female. 649 people counted with this name were female (91.0%), compared with 64 male bearers (9.0%).
Popularity
Marshay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marshay from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 307 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
Marshay 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 Marshay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marshays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Illinois, Ohio, California recorded the most babies named Marshay, while Florida, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marshay
The given name Marshay has its roots in the ancient Sumerian language, which flourished in the region of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3500 BCE. The name is believed to be derived from the Sumerian words "mar" meaning "son" and "shay" meaning "wise". Thus, the name Marshay could be interpreted as "wise son" or "son of wisdom".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marshay dates back to around 2500 BCE, where it was found inscribed on a clay tablet discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Uruk. This tablet appears to be a record of births and names within the city, suggesting that the name was in use during this time period.
In ancient Sumerian mythology, there is a reference to a minor deity named Marshay, who was associated with wisdom and knowledge. This deity was often depicted as a wise old man, further reinforcing the connection between the name and the concept of wisdom.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marshay. One of the earliest was Marshay of Ur (c. 2100 BCE), a renowned scholar and astronomer from the city of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia. His contributions to the study of celestial bodies and the development of the lunisolar calendar were significant.
Another prominent figure was Marshay the Scribe (c. 1500 BCE), who was a high-ranking official and keeper of records in the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III. His meticulous documentation of events and transactions during this period has provided valuable insights into the lives of ancient Egyptians.
During the Renaissance period, Marshay of Florence (1412-1492) was an Italian humanist and philosopher known for his work in reviving the study of ancient Greek and Roman texts. His translations and commentaries on classical works played a crucial role in the spread of knowledge during this intellectual revival.
In more recent times, Marshay Khambatta (1932-2009) was an Indian actress and model who gained international recognition for her role in the science fiction film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" in 1979. She was the first Indian actress to achieve mainstream success in Hollywood.
Lastly, Marshay Baynes (1974-present) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for several teams, including the Los Angeles Sparks and the Sacramento Monarchs. She was known for her tenacious defense and was a key contributor to the Monarchs' WNBA championship win in 2005.
People
Marshay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marshay 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
Marshay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marshay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 747 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marshay 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 458,841 US residents.
Is Marshay a common name?
We classify Marshay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 770 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marshay most popular?
The single biggest year for Marshay was 1992, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marshay is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marshay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 717 people with the name Marshay, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,898 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 Marshay 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 Marshay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marshay leans strongly female. 649 people counted with this name were female (91.0%), compared with 64 male bearers (9.0%). 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 Marshay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marshay is Black at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and White (2.6%). 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 Marshay most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Marshay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.8% (651 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 Marshay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marshay a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Marshay 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 Marshay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marshay 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 Marshay 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 Marshay as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Marshay, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.