Marylu
A feminine name composed of Mary (bitter or beloved) and Lu (diminutive of Louise).
Name Census estimates that about 608 living Americans carry the first name Marylu. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marylu today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marylu births was 1953 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marylu. 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
608
~ 1 in 563,741 Americans
Peak year
1953
27 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,773
Tracked since 1921
Census
Marylu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,176 people with the first name Marylu, which placed it at #11,058 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
#11,058
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,176 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marylu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marylu is White at 55.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (41.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Marylu 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 Marylu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.2% · 649
- Hispanic or Latino41.6% · 489
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 30
- Black or African American0.4% · 5
- Two or more races0.3% · 3
Popularity
Marylu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marylu from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 177 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marylu 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 Marylu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marylus live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Marylu, while Illinois, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marylu
The name Marylu is a combination of two separate names, Mary and Lu. Mary is a given name derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam or Miriam, which means "bitter" or "beloved." The name can be traced back to the New Testament and is associated with the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Lu, on the other hand, is a shortened form of the name Lucia, which has Latin roots and means "light."
The combination of Mary and Lu into the name Marylu is believed to have originated in the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century. It was likely inspired by the popularity of the name Mary and the trend of combining names to create unique and distinctive monikers.
While the name Marylu does not have any direct historical references or appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is a modern creation that reflects the cultural and linguistic influences of the time.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Marylu can be found in the United States Census records from the early 20th century. However, due to the scarcity of data, it is difficult to pinpoint the precise origin or earliest recorded use of the name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Marylu. Marylu Poolman (born 1938) was an American actress and dancer known for her roles in television and film in the 1960s and 1970s. Marylu Alvarado (1937-1971) was a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in various telenovelas and films during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
Marylu Nault (born 1942) is a Canadian former politician who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993. Marylu Dowling (1938-2022) was an American author and educator who wrote several books on education and child development.
Marylu Moyer (born 1946) is an American former professional tennis player who won several Grand Slam titles in doubles and mixed doubles events during her career.
People
Marylu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marylu 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
Marylu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marylu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 608 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marylu 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 563,741 US residents.
Is Marylu a common name?
We classify Marylu 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, 932 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marylu most popular?
The single biggest year for Marylu was 1953, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marylu is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marylu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,176 people with the name Marylu, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,058 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 Marylu 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 Marylu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marylu appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,181 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 Marylu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marylu is White at 55.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (41.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Marylu most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marylu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.2% (649 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 Marylu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marylu a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marylu 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 Marylu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marylu 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 Marylu 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 Marylu as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.