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Marlowe

#523 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Remnants of a lake

Marlowe has been given to 6,467 babies in the U.S. since 1918. In 2025 it ranked #523 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 575 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 74% girls, 26% boys all-time.

Babies named Marlowe, 2025

1 in 5,770

Marlowe over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Marlowe over time

In 2025, Marlowe went to 94% girls and 6% boys.

19122025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Marlowe: meaning, origin, and history

Remnants of a lake

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Marlowe means

Marlowe means “remnants of a lake”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,805 girls were recorded with the name Marlowe between 1918 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 575 in 2025; its best national rank was #523 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #927 in 2020 to #523 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,140 in 2015 to #523 in 2025.

In the United States, 1,662 boys were recorded with the name Marlowe between 1912 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 47 in 2024; its best national rank was #1,339 in 1952.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,642 in 2020 to #3,285 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #5,433 in 2015 to #3,285 in 2025.

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 Marlowe?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 5,770
575 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 2,800
0.04% of girls
Rank, 2025
#523
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
3,997 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Marlowe 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 1002%
School of 5008%

Put another way: gather 3,997 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Marlowe. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Marlowes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Marlowe was born before 2019 — so the typical Marlowe is around 6 today.

Median birth year
2019
About 6 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
48.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
92.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
4,703
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 48.4% of all recorded uses (2,327).

Is Marlowe 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
+102
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+404
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+617
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.59×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (575)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
26.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#523
2025

Spellings of Marlowe

Marlowe is not the most common spelling — Marlene is, with 70.8% against Marlowe's 2.6%.

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 Marlowe is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Marlowe was most concentrated in Colorado — about 1 in 1,961 girls, against 1 in 4,472 across all states with data. It was least common in Maryland (1 in 20,000).

551 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Colorado1 in 1,961
  2. 2Oregon1 in 2,174
  3. 3Washington1 in 2,500
  4. 4Wisconsin1 in 2,500
  5. 5Massachusetts1 in 2,564
  6. 6Minnesota1 in 2,564
  7. 7Connecticut1 in 2,857
  8. 8Iowa1 in 3,030

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.

Geographically, Marlowe is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 29% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Where Marlowe is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Marlowe was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 50,000 boys, against 1 in 399,035 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

02 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 50,000
  2. 2North Dakota1 in 100,000
  3. 3California1 in —
  4. 4Iowa1 in —
  5. 5Illinois1 in —
  6. 6New York1 in —
  7. 7Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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. Marlowe has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Marlowe around the world

Where Marlowe 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
    2013–2025
    #585
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2018–2025
    #324
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2025–2025
    #397
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2019–2025
    #718
    in 2025
  • France
    2015–2015
    #5,201
    in 2015
  • Canada
    2002–2024
    #708
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2013–2013
    #818
    in 2013

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

Notable people named Marlowe

People whose public names include Marlowe, 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.

Marlowe in other languages

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

Marlow

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

Marlowe by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#523
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 404
Best rank ever
#523
2025
Peak year
2025
575 that year
First recorded
1918
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,805
Count in 2025
575

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,285
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,357
Best rank ever
#1,339
1952
Peak year
2024
47 that year
First recorded
1912
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,662
Count in 2025
36

Names similar to Marlowe

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

MarylinMarleenMargauxMariyahMaryleeMarylynMariannMarileeMarlanaMarjoryMartineMarcelaMargretMariamaMarlieMaritaMarielleMarvelMariellaMarlenaMarandaMarcelleMarielaMarlen

Names with a curve like Marlowe

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

JourniPersephoneEzraJovieKataleyaDiorWaverlyBrynleighAdaleeDenverCalliopeAila

Sibling names for Marlowe

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 Marlowe

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