boys' name ★ peaked 2022

Marcel

Gender Boy · 5% girls Rank 2025 #731 Trend → Stable

Borrowed from French Marcel, from Latin Marcellus, diminutive of Marcus.

Rank 2025
#731
among boys · ↑24 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
364
named Marcel · +7% vs 2024
How common
1 in 4,693
boys born in 2025
Peak year
2022
417 babies
All-time total
21,123
#837 all-time among boys
First recorded
1881
in Social Security records

Marcel popularity over time

21,123 babies have been named Marcel since 1881, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.080.150.230.318801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – 10 10 1 – #963
1890s – 24 24 2 +140% #917
1900s – 62 62 6 +158% #887
1910s 25 646 671 67 +982% #577
1920s 79 1,281 1,360 136 +103% #500
1930s 37 877 914 91 -33% #527
1940s 63 757 820 82 -10% #644
1950s 170 1,035 1,205 121 +47% #669
1960s 245 1,451 1,696 170 +41% #588
1970s 164 1,718 1,882 188 +11% #564
1980s 87 2,139 2,226 223 +18% #551
1990s 75 2,793 2,868 287 +29% #557
2000s 37 2,253 2,290 229 -20% #748
2010s 10 2,864 2,874 287 +26% #733
2020s (to 2025) – 2,221 2,221 370 +29% #659

Where Marcel is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 370 0.22 outside top 500
2027 376 0.22 outside top 500
2028 380 0.22 outside top 500
2029 384 0.23 outside top 500
2030 388 0.23 outside top 500

Where Marcel is most popular

Boys named Marcel per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.214 per 1,000. Strongest in Louisiana, Arizona, and New York.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Marcel born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Louisiana 37 0.362 +69%
Arizona 57 0.348 +63%
New York 146 0.337 +58%
Florida 156 0.329 +54%
Massachusetts 45 0.327 +53%
Illinois 78 0.305 +43%
Georgia 74 0.292 +37%
Michigan 54 0.264 +23%
Texas 232 0.263 +23%
Pennsylvania 65 0.245 +14%
Missouri 32 0.231 +8%
California 205 0.224 +5%
North Carolina 57 0.223 ≈ national
Maryland 26 0.218 ≈ national
Virginia 41 0.216 ≈ national
New Jersey 42 0.209 ≈ national
Washington 34 0.208 ≈ national
Indiana 30 0.187 -13%
Connecticut 12 0.177 -17%
Ohio 46 0.174 -19%
Nebraska 6 0.138 -36%
Wisconsin 16 0.135 -37%
South Carolina 12 0.116 -46%
Utah 11 0.115 -46%
Colorado 14 0.108 -49%
Minnesota 13 0.106 -50%
Nevada 6 0.105 -51%
Kansas 7 0.102 -52%
Kentucky 10 0.100 -53%
Alabama 10 0.091 -57%
Iowa 6 0.087 -59%
Tennessee 12 0.066 -69%
Alaska – – –
Arkansas – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Idaho – – –
Maine – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Mexico – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Marcel

Marcel is uncommon for boys in the United States, ranked #731 in 2025 with 364 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1881, 21,123 American babies have been named Marcel. Its peak came in 2022, when 417 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2020s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Marcel stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Marcel?

The median living Marcel is about 30 years old; half are between 12 and 48. An estimated 17 thousand people named Marcel are alive in the United States today.

median 30 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Marcel year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 – – 364 #731
2024 – – 339 #755
2023 – – 341 #761
2022 – – 417 #659
2021 – – 387 #686
2020 – – 373 #686
2019 – – 310 #766
2018 – – 326 #733
2017 – – 315 #749
2016 – – 317 #766
2015 5 #18,169 308 #772
2014 – – 264 #848
2013 – – 275 #801
2012 – – 238 #882
2011 – – 256 #842
2010 5 #18,823 255 #838
2009 5 #19,134 234 #892
2008 – – 260 #839
2007 – – 248 #852
2006 6 #16,389 198 #946
2005 5 #18,178 238 #806
2004 – – 212 #840
2003 5 #17,387 227 #773
2002 5 #17,135 195 #854
2001 6 #14,662 214 #791
2000 5 #16,628 227 #748
1995 5 #14,846 253 #656
1990 11 #7,649 327 #562
1985 12 #5,900 201 #617
1980 10 #6,593 176 #658
1975 14 #4,482 183 #597
1970 32 #2,383 183 #600
1965 27 #2,323 166 #591
1960 28 #2,226 123 #705
1955 18 #2,685 83 #805
1950 7 #4,574 88 #733
1945 6 #4,345 75 #704
1940 10 #2,884 53 #867
1935 – – 70 #736
1930 – – 129 #527
1925 5 #5,485 148 #500
1920 7 #4,242 106 #613
1915 7 #3,658 90 #607
1910 – – 11 #1,019
1905 – – 9 #888
1900 – – – –
1895 – – 6 #1,041
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Marcel

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Marcel Proust Marcel Proust French novelist, literary critic, and essayist (1871–1922) 19th century
  2. 2 Marcel Duchamp Marcel Duchamp French-American painter, sculptor, and chess player (1887–1968) 19th century
  3. 3 Marcel Desailly Marcel Desailly French footballer (born 1968) Contemporary
  4. 4 Marcel Lefebvre Marcel Lefebvre French Catholic archbishop (1905–1991) Contemporary
  5. 5 Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau French mime artist (1923–2007) Contemporary
  6. 6 Marcel Petiot Marcel Petiot French serial killer (1897-1946) 19th century
  7. 7 Marcel Breuer Marcel Breuer Hungarian-American architect and designer (1902–1981) Contemporary
  8. 8 Marcel Cerdan Marcel Cerdan French boxer (1916–1949) Contemporary
  9. 9 Marcel Pagnol Marcel Pagnol Novelist, playwright and filmmaker from France 1895–1974 · 19th century
  10. 10 Marcel Dassault Marcel Dassault French aircraft industrialist (1892–1986) 19th century
  11. 11 Marcel Camus Marcel Camus French film director (1912–1982) Contemporary
  12. 12 Marcel Iureș Marcel Iureș Romanian film and theater actor b. 1951 · Contemporary
  13. 13 Marcel Dalio Marcel Dalio French actor (1899–1983) 19th century
  14. 14 Marcel Mauss Marcel Mauss French sociologist and anthropologist (1872–1950) 19th century
  15. 15 Marcel Grossmann Marcel Grossmann Swiss-Hungarian mathematician (1878–1936) 19th century
  16. 16 Marcel Carné Marcel Carné French film director (1906–1996) Contemporary
  17. 17 Marcel Renault Marcel Renault French industrialist (1872–1903) 19th century
  18. 18 Marcel Dupré Marcel Dupré French organist, composer and pedagogue (1886–1971) 19th century
  19. 19 Marcel Schwob Marcel Schwob French writer (1867–1905) 19th century
  20. 20 Marcel Janco Marcel Janco Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist 1895–1984 · 19th century

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Marcel, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Marcel?

The median living Marcel is about 30 years old. Half of all living Marcels are between 12 and 48 years old.

How many people named Marcel are alive today?

An estimated 17 thousand people named Marcel are alive in the United States, based on 21,123 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Marcel mean?

Borrowed from French Marcel, from Latin Marcellus, diminutive of Marcus.

How popular is the name Marcel in 2025?

Marcel ranked #731 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 364 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Marcel?

21,123 babies have been named Marcel in the United States since 1881, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Marcel most popular?

Marcel peaked in 2022, when 417 newborns received the name.

Is Marcel a boy or girl name?

Marcel is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 95% of babies with the name.

Is the name Marcel rising or falling?

Marcel is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Marcel become more popular?

Marcel is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 388 boys named Marcel in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Marcel?

Well-known people named Marcel include Marcel Proust (writer), Marcel Duchamp (artist), Marcel Desailly (soccer player).

Names like Marcel

Names that sound and feel close to Marcel: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Marcel with similar names → More names starting with M →