How rare is the name Marcellus?

4,754 people in the United States have the first name Marcellus, about 1 in 63,532. It ranks #4,072 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

MARCELLUS

#4,072

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,754
About
1 in 63,532
This common or more
83.5%
Who bears it

Of the 4,754 people named Marcellus, 68.9% reported their origin as Black, 10.6% as White and 9.1% as Hispanic or Latino. 99.3% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Marcellus peaked in 2021, when 351 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2021
Births that year
351
In 2025*
208 ▼41%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 9,608 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Marcellus by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #1,327. The largest share of babies named Marcellus, 29.9%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#1,32791
1890s#1,95366
1900s#1,849108
1910s#1,757410
1920s#1,924523
1930s#2,217359
1940s#2,583326
1950s#2,653414
1960s#2,322612
1970s#2,184823
1980s#2,809674
1990s#2,6281,032
2000s#3,2491,035
2010s#2,8111,403
2020s#1,7361,732
Before 19011.7%
Greatest Generation 1901–279.8%
Silent Generation 1928–456.4%
Baby boom 1946–648.6%
Generation X 1965–8012.8%
Millennials 1981–9614.2%
Generation Z 1997–1216.5%
2013 and later29.9%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Marcellus is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Marcellus has been most common in District of Columbia (6.4×), Virginia (2.8×), and Maryland (2.1×), and least common in Missouri (0.31×).

4,784 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Marcellus

1 other first name also has 4,754 people.

#4,072 Hipolito · 4,754

Either side of Marcellus

#4,070 Zofia · 4,758#4,072 Hipolito · 4,754#4,074 Diya · 4,752#4,075 Westin · 4,751

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Marcellus, most common first.

#1,200 Marcella · 32,506#3,517 Marcello · 5,884#4,222 Marcelle · 4,514#4,804 Marcell · 3,759#17,037 Marcellous · 654#31,031 Marcellis · 278#31,475 Marcelus · 272#42,480 Marcellas · 169

Also a last name

As a last name, Marcellus ranks #13,063 of 156,621, with 2,244 people. See Marcellus as a last name

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