How rare is the name Marlyn?

8,057 people in the United States have the first name Marlyn, about 1 in 37,487. It ranks #2,857 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

MARLYN

#2,857

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,057
About
1 in 37,487
This common or more
81%
Who bears it

Of the 8,057 people named Marlyn, 41.3% reported their origin as White, 36.3% as Hispanic or Latino and 11.8% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 87.1% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Marlyn peaked in 1935, when 278 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19132025
Peak year
1935
Births that year
278
In 2025*
22 ▼92%
Recorded as
mostly female

At least 9,112 babies have been given the name since 1913. 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.

Marlyn by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #787. The largest share of babies named Marlyn, 38.9%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1910s#3,347140
1920s#1,349978
1930s#7872,311
1940s#1,1481,431
1950s#1,758917
1960s#2,463549
1970s#3,602363
1980s#3,692447
1990s#3,551661
2000s#4,324689
2010s#5,787484
2020s#9,241142
Greatest Generation 1901–279.2%
Silent Generation 1928–4538.9%
Baby boom 1946–6418.8%
Generation X 1965–806.9%
Millennials 1981–969.6%
Generation Z 1997–1212%
2013 and later4.6%

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 Marlyn is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Marlyn has been most common in Iowa (5.8×), North Dakota (5.7×), and South Dakota (4.2×), and least common in Indiana (0.42×).

4,509 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 Marlyn

1 other first name also has 8,057 people.

#2,857 Ila · 8,057

Either side of Marlyn

#2,856 Divya · 8,066#2,857 Ila · 8,057#2,859 Boston · 8,054#2,860 Dong · 8,051

Spelled almost the same

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

#221 Marilyn · 248,652#1,157 Marlon · 34,097#1,859 Marlin · 15,488#2,456 Marlen · 10,077#5,671 Marylyn · 2,979#12,345 Maralyn · 1,011#13,455 Marlan · 897#13,509 Marolyn · 892

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