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Marli

#2,317 in 2025Girls' name

Diminutive of Marlene

Marli has been given to 2,846 babies in the U.S. since 1954. In 2025 it ranked #2,317 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2008, with 171 recorded.

Babies named Marli, 2025

1 in 42,000

Marli over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Marli: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Marlene

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Marli means

Marli is a diminutive of Marlene.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Marlene.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,841 girls were recorded with the name Marli between 1954 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 171 in 2008; its best national rank was #1,394 in 2008.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,058 in 2020 to #2,317 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,959 in 2015 to #2,317 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Marli between 2024 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2024; its best national rank was #13,510 in 2024.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Marli?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 42,000
79 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 20,300
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#2,317
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
29,088 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Marli sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 29,088 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Marli. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Marlis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Marli was born before 2011 — so the typical Marli is around 14 today.

Median birth year
2011
About 14 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
33.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
79.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,841
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 33.3% of all recorded uses (946).

Is Marli rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−252
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−259
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−358
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.77×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
46.2%
Peak was 2008 (171)
Years since peak
17
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
16.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,394
2008

Spellings of Marli

Marli is not the most common spelling — Mary is, with 61.0% against Marli's 0.04%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Marli is used

Across 2016–2025, Marli was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 4,545 girls, against 1 in 22,105 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 100,000).

122 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Louisiana1 in 4,545
  2. 2Florida1 in 14,286
  3. 3Georgia1 in 14,286
  4. 4Ohio1 in 14,286
  5. 5Tennessee1 in 14,286
  6. 6Alabama1 in 16,667
  7. 7Pennsylvania1 in 16,667
  8. 8Texas1 in 16,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Marli around the world

Where Marli ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2025
    #2,440
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2003–2025
    #539
    in 2025
  • France
    1975–1975
    #2,643
    in 1975
  • Canada
    1994–2014
    #3,202
    in 2014
  • South Australia
    1984–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Marli

People whose public names include Marli, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Marli in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Marli. Linked forms have their own page here.

MarlyMarleeMarleyMarlieMarlinMarlis

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Marli by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,317
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 259
Best rank ever
#1,394
2008
Peak year
2008
171 that year
First recorded
1954
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,841
Count in 2025
79

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#13,510
2024
Peak year
2024
5 that year
First recorded
2024
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Marli

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

MarynMarisMarwaMarahMarniMaryaMartyMarryMartiMarlyMarelyMarinMariyaMarloMariluMaryahMaramMarlowMarlieMaritMarlinMarnaMarkieMarita

Names with a curve like Marli

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Marli, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

AmeerahYanaAlynaRhyanTahliaIllianaKaliahAngelyNoelaniAislynnAvigailLayna

Sibling names for Marli

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Marli

Top names of 2008, Marli's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2008Girls' names starting with M