Marty
A diminutive form of Martin, derived from Mars, the Roman god of war.
Name Census estimates that about 29,853 living Americans carry the first name Marty. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Marty today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marty births was 1962 (1,736 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marty. 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 Marty with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Marty have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
30K
~ 1 in 11,481 Americans
Peak year
1962
1,736 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,608
Tracked since 1896
Census
Marty in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 28,374 people with the first name Marty, which placed it at #1,298 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
#1,298
National first-name rank
People counted
28K
28,374 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
9.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marty
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marty is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Black (5.6%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Marty 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 Marty at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.1% · 23,581
- Black or African American5.6% · 1,578
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 1,562
- Two or more races2.8% · 787
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 496
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 370
Gender
Gender distribution for Marty
Marty leans heavily male at 88.7% of total registrations, but 4,076 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Marty as a male name
- Ranked #2,608 in 2024
- 51 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1962 (1,614 births)
Marty as a female name
- Ranked #7,898 in 2023
- 14 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1957 (159 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marty leans strongly male. 24,774 people counted with this name were male (87.3%), compared with 3,601 female bearers (12.7%).
Popularity
Marty: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marty from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 13,829 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marty 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 Marty during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Martys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Marty, while Maine, Connecticut, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 649 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marty
The name Marty is a diminutive form of the name Martin, which has its origins in the ancient Roman family name Martinus. Martinus is derived from the name of the Roman god Mars, the deity of war and fertility. The name Martin gained popularity during the early Christian era due to the veneration of Saint Martin of Tours, a 4th-century bishop known for his charitable works.
In its diminutive form, Marty first appeared in English-speaking regions during the Middle Ages. It was commonly used as a nickname or shortened version of Martin, reflecting the affectionate nature of diminutive names. The earliest recorded instances of the name Marty can be traced back to the 13th century in various English and Scottish records.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Marty was Marty Llewelyn, a Welsh prince who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He was a prominent figure during the turbulent period of the Norman conquest of Wales and played a significant role in the struggle for Welsh independence.
In the realm of literature, the name Marty gained recognition through the character of Marty McFly, the protagonist of the iconic Back to the Future film trilogy (1985-1990). Portrayed by actor Michael J. Fox, Marty McFly became a cultural icon and contributed to the popularity of the name in the late 20th century.
Another notable individual with the name Marty was Marty Robbins (1925-1982), an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Renowned for his distinctive voice and crossover appeal between country and pop music, Robbins left an indelible mark on the music industry with hits like "El Paso" and "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation."
In the world of sports, Marty Marion (1917-2011) was a legendary baseball player and manager. He played as a shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals and won the World Series in 1942 and 1944. After his playing career, he managed the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, leading the White Sox to the American League pennant in 1959.
Marty Schottenheimer (1943-2023) was a highly respected American football coach who spent over two decades in the National Football League (NFL). He coached teams like the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Diego Chargers, guiding several franchises to playoff appearances and earning a reputation as a disciplinarian and defensive strategist.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Marty
People
Marty + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marty 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
Marty: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marty?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29,853 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marty 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 11,481 US residents.
Is Marty a common name?
We classify Marty as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 36,211 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marty most popular?
The single biggest year for Marty was 1962, when 1,736 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marty is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marty in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 28,374 people with the name Marty, or 9.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,298 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 Marty 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 Marty?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marty leans strongly male. 24,774 people counted with this name were male (87.3%), compared with 3,601 female bearers (12.7%). 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 Marty?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marty is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Black (5.6%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Marty most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marty in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.1% (23,581 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 Marty in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marty a male name?
Yes, 88.7% of people registered as Marty in the SSA data are male. 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 Marty still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marty 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 Marty 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 Marty as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Marty on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.