Unisex name ★ peaked 2008

Marley

Meaning boundary Gender Unisex · 86% girls Rank 2025 #322 Trend ↓ Falling 21%

From several different places in England, from Old English mære (“boundary”) or myrig (“pleasant”) or mearþ (“marten”) + lēah (“woodland clearing”).

Rank 2025
#322
among girls · ↓36 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
1,081
named Marley · -15% vs 2024
How common
1 in 1,692
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2008
2,650 babies
All-time total
38,404
#787 all-time among girls
First recorded
1914
in Social Security records

Marley popularity over time

38,404 babies have been named Marley since 1914, 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
0.380.751.131.518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

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 – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – 36 36 4 – –
1920s – 80 80 8 +122% –
1930s 12 53 65 7 -19% #4,102
1940s 18 33 51 5 -22% #4,524
1950s 38 57 95 10 +86% #4,669
1960s 41 11 52 5 -45% #4,916
1970s 124 17 141 14 +171% #3,857
1980s 497 119 616 62 +337% #1,456
1990s 2,035 303 2,338 234 +280% #716
2000s 8,992 1,299 10,291 1,029 +340% #145
2010s 14,235 2,292 16,527 1,653 +61% #203
2020s (to 2025) 7,053 1,059 8,112 1,352 -18% #211

Where Marley is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (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 girls Implied rank
2026 913 0.57 #336
2027 882 0.55 #347
2028 857 0.53 #355
2029 836 0.52 #366
2030 819 0.51 #376

Where Marley is most popular

Girls named Marley per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.701 per 1,000. Strongest in South Dakota, West Virginia, and Delaware.

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

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Marley 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 Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
South Dakota 29 2.03 +190%
West Virginia 44 1.68 +140%
Delaware 17 1.50 +114%
Mississippi 67 1.43 +104%
Louisiana 125 1.43 +104%
Kentucky 119 1.39 +99%
South Carolina 124 1.38 +97%
Utah 106 1.27 +82%
Arkansas 67 1.27 +81%
Nebraska 45 1.25 +79%
Alabama 111 1.18 +69%
Tennessee 185 1.17 +67%
Georgia 263 1.16 +65%
Connecticut 67 1.15 +64%
Indiana 160 1.14 +63%
Michigan 205 1.13 +61%
Idaho 37 1.11 +58%
Wisconsin 112 1.09 +55%
New Hampshire 20 1.08 +55%
Maryland 113 1.07 +52%
Minnesota 114 1.06 +51%
Oklahoma 77 1.05 +49%
Kansas 60 1.04 +48%
Colorado 115 1.03 +47%
Oregon 66 1.01 +45%
Virginia 168 0.986 +41%
Missouri 118 0.979 +40%
Montana 13 0.960 +37%
Iowa 56 0.958 +37%
North Carolina 218 0.957 +37%
Ohio 222 0.936 +34%
Washington 133 0.921 +31%
New Mexico 22 0.905 +29%
Nevada 41 0.883 +26%
Pennsylvania 196 0.829 +18%
Arizona 110 0.784 +12%
Florida 325 0.760 +8%
Illinois 171 0.747 +7%
Massachusetts 86 0.711 ≈ national
Hawaii 8 0.698 ≈ national
New York 234 0.591 -16%
New Jersey 102 0.565 -19%
California 460 0.547 -22%
Texas 416 0.517 -26%
Rhode Island 6 0.479 -32%
North Dakota 5 0.380 -46%
Maine 5 0.323 -54%
Alaska – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Vermont – – –
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 Marley

Marley is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #322 in 2025 with 950 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1914, 38,404 American babies have been named Marley, about 86% girls and 14% boys, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 2008, when 2,650 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2000s.

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 Marley stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Marley?

The median living Marley is about 12 years old; half are between 6 and 17. An estimated 38 thousand people named Marley are alive in the United States today.

median 12 020406080100

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

Marley 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 950 #322 131 #1,397
2024 1,108 #286 164 #1,228
2023 1,108 #284 166 #1,204
2022 1,139 #276 184 #1,140
2021 1,379 #215 180 #1,133
2020 1,369 #211 234 #943
2019 1,336 #233 192 #1,065
2018 1,418 #222 244 #889
2017 1,475 #209 220 #950
2016 1,500 #215 263 #859
2015 1,499 #218 262 #863
2014 1,650 #203 279 #816
2013 1,533 #210 239 #879
2012 1,242 #260 190 #1,028
2011 1,237 #259 182 #1,045
2010 1,345 #234 221 #917
2009 2,171 #149 286 #790
2008 2,359 #145 291 #766
2007 839 #391 139 #1,268
2006 766 #416 133 #1,263
2005 651 #473 93 #1,532
2004 556 #517 76 #1,694
2003 486 #574 84 #1,534
2002 404 #631 78 #1,582
2001 423 #596 60 #1,855
2000 337 #695 59 #1,827
1995 210 #903 23 #3,065
1990 84 #1,750 13 #4,320
1985 86 #1,456 11 #3,949
1980 13 #5,428 5 #6,891
1975 12 #5,033 6 #5,213
1970 8 #6,143 – –
1965 5 #7,158 – –
1960 – – – –
1955 5 #6,400 5 #4,198
1950 6 #5,082 7 #3,220
1945 – – – –
1940 – – – –
1935 – – – –
1930 – – – –
1925 – – 7 #3,617
1920 – – 8 #3,388
1915 – – 8 #2,975
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Marley

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

  1. 1 Marley Shelton Marley Shelton American actress (born 1974) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

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

How old is the average Marley?

The median living Marley is about 12 years old. Half of all living Marleys are between 6 and 17 years old.

How many people named Marley are alive today?

An estimated 38 thousand people named Marley are alive in the United States, based on 38,404 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Marley mean?

From several different places in England, from Old English mære (“boundary”) or myrig (“pleasant”) or mearþ (“marten”) + lēah (“woodland clearing”).

How popular is the name Marley in 2025?

Marley ranked #322 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 950 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Marley?

38,404 babies have been named Marley in the United States since 1914, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Marley most popular?

Marley peaked in 2008, when 2,650 newborns received the name.

Is Marley a boy or girl name?

Marley is used for both: about 86% of babies named Marley have been girls and 14% boys.

Is the name Marley rising or falling?

Marley is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Marley become more popular?

Marley is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 819 girls named Marley in 2030, which would rank around #376. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Marley?

Well-known people named Marley include Marley Shelton (actor).

Names like Marley

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

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