Marybeth
A feminine combination of Mary, meaning "bitter" or "beloved", and Beth, derived from Elizabeth, meaning "my God is an oath".
Name Census estimates that about 8,187 living Americans carry the first name Marybeth. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marybeth today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marybeth births was 1961 (488 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marybeth. 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 Marybeth with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.2K
~ 1 in 41,866 Americans
Peak year
1961
488 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,812
Tracked since 1909
Census
Marybeth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 20,065 people with the first name Marybeth, which placed it at #1,596 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
#1,596
National first-name rank
People counted
20K
20,065 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marybeth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marybeth is White at 94.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Marybeth 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 Marybeth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.9% · 19,040
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 404
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 261
- Two or more races1.2% · 237
- Black or African American0.4% · 88
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 35
Popularity
Marybeth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marybeth from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 3,801 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
Marybeth 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 Marybeth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marybeths live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Marybeth, while North Carolina, Delaware, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 313 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marybeth
The given name Marybeth is a combination of two names, Mary and Beth, both of which have rich historical roots and cultural significance.
The name Mary is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam, which is believed to have originated from the Hebrew words "mar" meaning "bitter" and "yam" meaning "sea." This name has been used across various cultures and religions throughout history. In the Christian tradition, Mary is revered as the mother of Jesus Christ, and her name has become one of the most popular names worldwide.
Beth, on the other hand, is a shortened form of the Hebrew name Elizabeth, which means "my God is an oath" or "my God is abundance." This name has its roots in the Old Testament and was borne by the mother of John the Baptist.
While the combined name Marybeth is not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is likely that this name emerged as a combination of the two popular names, Mary and Beth, in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Marybeth can be traced back to the late 19th century. One notable figure with this name was Marybeth Tinning (1942-2018), an American serial killer who murdered nine of her own children between 1972 and 1985.
Another notable Marybeth was Marybeth Whalen (1954-2013), an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who performed with the rock band The Cookers in the 1970s.
In the literary world, Marybeth Lorbiecki (1954-) is an American author known for her young adult novels, including "Iced Chiffon" and "Doubters' Novena."
Marybeth Gasman (1962-) is an American historian and professor at Rutgers University, known for her research on historically Black colleges and universities.
Lastly, Marybeth Tinning (1942-2018), mentioned earlier, was a notorious American serial killer who confessed to murdering nine of her own children between 1972 and 1985, shocking the nation with her crimes.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Marybeth, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and eras.
People
Marybeth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marybeth 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
Marybeth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marybeth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,187 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marybeth 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 41,866 US residents.
Is Marybeth a common name?
We classify Marybeth as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,241 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marybeth most popular?
The single biggest year for Marybeth was 1961, when 488 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marybeth is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marybeth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 20,065 people with the name Marybeth, or 6.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,596 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 Marybeth 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 Marybeth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marybeth appears almost entirely female. Of the 20,059 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 Marybeth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marybeth is White at 94.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Marybeth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marybeth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.9% (19,040 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 Marybeth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marybeth a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marybeth 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 Marybeth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marybeth 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 Marybeth 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 are named Marybeth?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.