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Marlyn

#5,652 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Variant of Marilyn

Marlyn has been given to 9,112 babies in the U.S. since 1915. In 2025 it ranked #5,652 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1936, with 193 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 75% girls, 25% boys all-time.

Babies named Marlyn, 2025

1 in 151,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Marlyn over time

In 2025, Marlyn went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19132025

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.

Marlyn: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Marilyn

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Marlyn means

Marlyn is a variant of Marilyn.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Marilyn.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,806 girls were recorded with the name Marlyn between 1915 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 193 in 1936; its best national rank was #464 in 1936.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #4,508 in 2020 to #5,652 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,687 in 2015 to #5,652 in 2025.

In the United States, 2,306 boys were recorded with the name Marlyn between 1913 and 2020. Its highest annual count was 94 in 1935; its best national rank was #601 in 1935.

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 Marlyn?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 151,000
22 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 73,100
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#5,652
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
104,451 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Marlyn 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 104,451 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Marlyn. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Marlyns were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Marlyn was born before 1953 — so the typical Marlyn is around 72 today.

Median birth year
1953
About 72 years old
Biggest decade
1930s
21.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
17.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
3,678
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1930s — 21.9% of all recorded uses (1,492).

Is Marlyn 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
+665
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,144
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,965
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.52×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
11.4%
Peak was 1936 (193)
Years since peak
89
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
20.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#464
1936

Spellings of Marlyn

Marlyn is not the most common spelling — Mary is, with 64.7% against Marlyn's 0.11%.

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 Marlyn is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Marlyn was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 14,286 girls, against 1 in 36,976 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in —).

07 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 14,286
  2. 2Pennsylvania1 in 16,667
  3. 3Wisconsin1 in 25,000
  4. 4Iowa1 in 33,333
  5. 5Maryland1 in 33,333
  6. 6New York1 in 33,333
  7. 7Texas1 in 33,333
  8. 8Illinois1 in 50,000

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. Marlyn has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Marlyn is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Marlyn was most concentrated in Iowa — about 1 in 7,692 boys, against 1 in 34,991 across all states with data. It was least common in Michigan (1 in —).

013 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Iowa1 in 7,692
  2. 2North Dakota1 in 7,692
  3. 3South Dakota1 in 10,000
  4. 4Minnesota1 in 12,500
  5. 5Wisconsin1 in 33,333
  6. 6Pennsylvania1 in 50,000
  7. 7Nebraska1 in 100,000
  8. 8Illinois1 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. Marlyn has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Marlyn around the world

Where Marlyn 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.

  • Scotland
    1974–1983
    #512
    in 1983
  • Ireland
    1974–1975
    #406
    in 1975
  • France
    1957–1957
    #1,530
    in 1957
  • South Australia
    1945–1989
    #692
    in 1989

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

Notable people named Marlyn

People whose public names include Marlyn, 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.

Marlyn in other languages

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

MarlyMarleyMarlinMarilyn

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

Marlyn by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#5,652
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,144
Best rank ever
#464
1936
Peak year
1936
193 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,806
Count in 2025
22

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#601
1935
Peak year
1935
94 that year
First recorded
1913
Last recorded
2020
All-time count
2,306
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Marlyn

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

MarylynMarelynMarolynMaralynMaryjoMarielMarnieMarlenMarvelMaritaMarlieMaryamMariyahMariannMarloMarcieMarileeMarinMarelyMarjoryMariyaMarleeMariamMarilyn

Names with a curve like Marlyn

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

ElidaBobbyOfeliaMarylouSammieArmidaNadaBeverleyLavonneGerrySocorroCarma

Sibling names for Marlyn

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 Marlyn

Top names of 1936, Marlyn's peak yearThe 1930s in fullOther names that peaked in 1936Girls' names starting with M