first name
MARILYN
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 248,652 people named Marilyn, 78.7% reported their origin as White, 8.9% as Black and 8% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Marilyn peaked in 1947, when 11,905 babies got the name.
At least 374,857 babies have been given the name since 1899. 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.
Marilyn by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #33. The largest share of babies named Marilyn, 44.9%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.
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 Marilyn is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Marilyn has been most common in Iowa (2.2×), Nebraska (2×), and South Dakota (1.9×), and least common in Delaware (0.31×).
370,583 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.
Either side of Marilyn
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Marilyn, most common first.
Compare
🔎 MARILYN 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 1,215 Americans More common than 56.6% of us Peaked in 1947 with 11,905 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/marilyn/