How rare is the name Marla?

36,374 people in the United States have the first name Marla, about 1 in 8,304. It ranks #1,124 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MARLA

#1,124

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
36,374
About
1 in 8,304
This common or more
71.7%
Who bears it

Of the 36,374 people named Marla, 74.6% reported their origin as White, 13.7% as Hispanic or Latino and 6.9% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Marla peaked in 1955, when 1,730 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19122025
Peak year
1955
Births that year
1,730
In 2025*
92 ▼95%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 38,819 babies have been given the name since 1912. 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.

Marla by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1950s, when it ranked #449. The largest share of babies named Marla, 47.9%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1910s#8,84716
1920s#6,35073
1930s#1,502699
1940s#8112,835
1950s#44911,452
1960s#50610,632
1970s#6456,618
1980s#1,1832,781
1990s#1,9701,616
2000s#3,575905
2010s#4,425710
2020s#4,110482
Greatest Generation 1901–270.2%
Silent Generation 1928–455%
Baby boom 1946–6447.9%
Generation X 1965–8031.3%
Millennials 1981–969.4%
Generation Z 1997–123.8%
2013 and later2.5%

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 Marla is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Marla has been most common in Kansas (2.4×), Iowa (2.1×), and Idaho (2.1×), and least common in South Carolina (0.25×).

35,051 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 Marla

#1,122 Dawson · 36,417#1,123 Kyla · 36,384#1,125 Keegan · 36,167#1,126 Rex · 36,166

Spelled almost the same

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

#2,692 Marlo · 8,723#6,096 Marly · 2,673#6,376 Marli · 2,528#17,151 Marlea · 648#23,187 Marle · 424#28,022 Marl · 323#33,953 Marlia · 242#36,086 Marila · 221

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