How rare is the name Marlena?

10,496 people in the United States have the first name Marlena, about 1 in 28,776. It ranks #2,382 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MARLENA

#2,382

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
10,496
About
1 in 28,776
This common or more
79.6%
Who bears it

Of the 10,496 people named Marlena, 58.8% reported their origin as White, 19.1% as Hispanic or Latino and 13.5% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Marlena peaked in 1978, when 470 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19252025
Peak year
1978
Births that year
470
In 2025*
56 ▼88%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 11,321 babies have been given the name since 1925. 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.

Marlena by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #1,253. The largest share of babies named Marlena, 32.6%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1920s#13,8275
1930s#3,960134
1940s#2,376385
1950s#1,978732
1960s#1,808995
1970s#1,2532,164
1980s#1,2832,425
1990s#1,6212,166
2000s#2,9741,174
2010s#4,126792
2020s#5,052349
Greatest Generation 1901–270%
Silent Generation 1928–452.8%
Baby boom 1946–6412.1%
Generation X 1965–8026.7%
Millennials 1981–9632.6%
Generation Z 1997–1217.7%
2013 and later8%

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 Marlena is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Marlena has been most common in California (2.3×), Arizona (1.6×), and Pennsylvania (1.4×), and least common in Wisconsin (0.24×).

7,270 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 Marlena

#2,380 Kaylyn · 10,517#2,381 Farah · 10,501#2,383 Brycen · 10,495#2,383 Tameka · 10,495

Spelled almost the same

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

#529 Marlene · 106,957#1,157 Marlon · 34,097#1,859 Marlin · 15,488#2,456 Marlen · 10,077#2,857 Marlyn · 8,057#4,694 Marleny · 3,878#4,696 Marleen · 3,875#6,734 Marlana · 2,348

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