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Marshal

#3,420 in 2025Boys' name

English word name: marshal

Marshal has been given to 5,559 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #3,420 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1999, with 95 recorded.

Babies named Marshal, 2025

1 in 97,500

Marshal over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Marshal: meaning, origin, and history

English word name: marshal

surname transfer

What Marshal means

Marshal takes the English word marshal into personal-name use.

Origin, language, and formation

Marshal is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Marshal is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Marshal is pronounced /ˈmɑː(ɹ)ʃəl/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,485 boys were recorded with the name Marshal between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 95 in 1999; its best national rank was #631 in 1881.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #3,696 in 2020 to #3,420 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,125 in 2015 to #3,420 in 2025.

In the United States, 74 girls were recorded with the name Marshal between 1952 and 1975. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1954; its best national rank was #4,981 in 1954.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Marshal?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 97,500
34 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 50,200
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,420
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
67,586 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Marshal sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 67,586 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Marshal. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Marshals were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Marshal was born before 1981 — so the typical Marshal is around 44 today.

Median birth year
1981
About 44 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
15.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
24.9%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
3,991
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 15.2% of all recorded uses (834).

Is Marshal 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
−105
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+276
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,295
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.52×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
35.8%
Peak was 1999 (95)
Years since peak
26
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
21.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#631
1881

Spellings of Marshal

Marshal is not the most common spelling — Marshall is, with 85.4% against Marshal's 4.8%.

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 Marshal is used

Across 1910–2025, Marshal was most concentrated in Texas — about 1 in 33,333 boys, against 1 in 135,755 across all states with data. It was least common in Utah (1 in —).

03 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Texas1 in 33,333
  2. 2Alabama1 in 100,000
  3. 3California1 in 100,000
  4. 4Colorado1 in 100,000
  5. 5Florida1 in 100,000
  6. 6Louisiana1 in 100,000
  7. 7Michigan1 in 100,000
  8. 8Minnesota1 in 100,000

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

Marshal around the world

Where Marshal 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
    1996–2025
    #5,137
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2023
    #2,747
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    2006–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Marshal by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,420
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 276
Best rank ever
#631
1881
Peak year
1999
95 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5,485
Count in 2025
34

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,981
1954
Peak year
1954
7 that year
First recorded
1952
Last recorded
1975
All-time count
74
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Marshal

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

MarquezMarcellMarkellMarquesMarianoMarquelMartellMarleyMarceloMarkelMarcelloMarcialMartezMarquanMarloweMarquiseMarshawnMariusMarquisMarvellMargaritoMarinoMarlowMarkeith

Names with a curve like Marshal

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

SamualDentonCaesarHilarioReyesFerminLeopoldoClementeRosendoLavonGenaroLino

Sibling names for Marshal

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 Marshal

Top names of 1999, Marshal's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1881Boys' names starting with M