Marybel
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "beautiful Mary."
Name Census estimates that about 609 living Americans carry the first name Marybel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marybel today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marybel births was 1981 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marybel. 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
609
~ 1 in 562,815 Americans
Peak year
1981
27 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,279
Tracked since 1914
Census
Marybel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 864 people with the first name Marybel, which placed it at #13,832 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
#13,832
National first-name rank
People counted
864
864 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marybel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marybel is Hispanic at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.2%) and White (4.1%). 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 Marybel 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 Marybel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.9% · 785
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 36
- White4.1% · 35
- Black or African American0.8% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Marybel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marybel from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 186 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
Marybel 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 Marybel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marybels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Marybel, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 75 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marybel
The name Marybel is a combination of the names Mary and Isabel, both of which have deep roots in various cultures and languages. The name Mary is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam, which means "bitter" or "beloved." It is closely associated with the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ in the Christian tradition, and has been a popular name among Christians for centuries.
The name Isabel, on the other hand, has its origins in the medieval Spanish and Portuguese form of the name Elizabeth, which ultimately comes from the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning "God is my oath." Isabel was a popular name among the royal families of Spain and Portugal during the Middle Ages, and it spread to other parts of Europe and the Americas through Spanish and Portuguese colonization.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marybel can be traced back to the late 19th century in the United States. While it was not a particularly common name, it did appear in various historical records and documents from that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marybel. One of the earliest was Marybel Batjer (1900-1988), an American silent film actress who appeared in over 60 films during the 1920s and 1930s. Another notable Marybel was Marybel Campbell (1911-2000), an American writer and journalist who worked for various publications, including The New Yorker and The Saturday Evening Post.
In the world of sports, Marybel Gonzalez (born 1960) is a former Mexican tennis player who won several international tournaments and represented Mexico in the Federation Cup. Marybel Vilhuburn (born 1976) is a former Olympic sprinter from the Netherlands Antilles who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
In the realm of politics, Marybel Batjer (born 1953) is an American Republican politician who served as the Secretary of the Cabinet under President George W. Bush and has held various other government positions.
While the name Marybel may not be as widely used today as it was in the past, it has a rich history and cultural significance, drawing from the traditional names Mary and Isabel, and has been borne by notable individuals across various fields throughout the centuries.
People
Marybel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marybel 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
Marybel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marybel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 609 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marybel 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 562,815 US residents.
Is Marybel a common name?
We classify Marybel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 683 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marybel most popular?
The single biggest year for Marybel was 1981, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marybel is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marybel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 864 people with the name Marybel, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,832 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 Marybel 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 Marybel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marybel appears almost entirely female. Of the 865 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Marybel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marybel is Hispanic at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.2%) and White (4.1%). 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 Marybel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Marybel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.9% (785 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 Marybel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marybel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marybel 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 Marybel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marybel 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 Marybel 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 Marybel?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.