Marlin
Marlin is given to both girls and boys: 14 girls and 90 boys were given it in 2025 (#7,746 among girls’ names and #1,788 among boys’, #3,462 among all names counting both); 22,834 Americans have been recorded with it since 1884 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 12,600 Americans named Marlin and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (55% of everyone recorded); the median is 53 years old and half are between 30 and 70.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Marlin by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Marlin mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Marlin is “a male given name, variant of Merlin.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Marlin?
#1,788 among boys’ names, 2025
Marlin rose from #1,820 in 2015 to #1,788 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 42.8 to 52.7 per million.
400 babies in 1935, the peak
Marlin peaked in 1935, when 400 babies were given it (386 boys, #276 among boys’ names). The 104 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 26% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 90 | #1,788 | 0.05 |
| 2024 | 83 | #1,913 | 0.05 |
| 2023 | 85 | #1,872 | 0.05 |
| 2022 | 78 | #1,975 | 0.04 |
| 2021 | 73 | #2,032 | 0.04 |
| 2020 | 68 | #2,086 | 0.04 |
| 2019 | 74 | #1,990 | 0.04 |
| 2018 | 86 | #1,788 | 0.05 |
| 2017 | 79 | #1,866 | 0.04 |
| 2016 | 70 | #2,036 | 0.04 |
Every recorded year (132)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 82 | #1,820 | 0.04 |
| 2014 | 81 | #1,837 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 71 | #1,955 | 0.04 |
| 2012 | 86 | #1,751 | 0.05 |
| 2011 | 81 | #1,790 | 0.04 |
| 2010 | 69 | #1,993 | 0.04 |
| 2009 | 67 | #2,064 | 0.03 |
| 2008 | 78 | #1,870 | 0.04 |
| 2007 | 94 | #1,647 | 0.05 |
| 2006 | 96 | #1,548 | 0.05 |
| 2005 | 100 | #1,466 | 0.05 |
| 2004 | 85 | #1,560 | 0.04 |
| 2003 | 93 | #1,425 | 0.05 |
| 2002 | 80 | #1,550 | 0.04 |
| 2001 | 97 | #1,338 | 0.05 |
| 2000 | 88 | #1,411 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 95 | #1,283 | 0.05 |
| 1998 | 98 | #1,239 | 0.05 |
| 1997 | 116 | #1,089 | 0.06 |
| 1996 | 101 | #1,163 | 0.05 |
| 1995 | 114 | #1,045 | 0.06 |
| 1994 | 112 | #1,052 | 0.06 |
| 1993 | 119 | #1,000 | 0.06 |
| 1992 | 108 | #1,054 | 0.05 |
| 1991 | 114 | #1,006 | 0.06 |
| 1990 | 117 | #964 | 0.06 |
| 1989 | 116 | #946 | 0.06 |
| 1988 | 125 | #852 | 0.07 |
| 1987 | 100 | #946 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 86 | #1,000 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 106 | #883 | 0.06 |
| 1984 | 108 | #845 | 0.06 |
| 1983 | 124 | #784 | 0.07 |
| 1982 | 120 | #808 | 0.07 |
| 1981 | 121 | #798 | 0.07 |
| 1980 | 119 | #807 | 0.07 |
| 1979 | 127 | #769 | 0.07 |
| 1978 | 141 | #709 | 0.09 |
| 1977 | 155 | #681 | 0.09 |
| 1976 | 166 | #637 | 0.11 |
| 1975 | 156 | #661 | 0.10 |
| 1974 | 226 | #531 | 0.14 |
| 1973 | 198 | #566 | 0.13 |
| 1972 | 238 | #509 | 0.15 |
| 1971 | 249 | #517 | 0.14 |
| 1970 | 182 | #604 | 0.10 |
| 1969 | 161 | #616 | 0.09 |
| 1968 | 180 | #568 | 0.10 |
| 1967 | 173 | #576 | 0.10 |
| 1966 | 221 | #509 | 0.12 |
| 1965 | 219 | #520 | 0.12 |
| 1964 | 226 | #520 | 0.11 |
| 1963 | 212 | #547 | 0.10 |
| 1962 | 223 | #534 | 0.11 |
| 1961 | 246 | #507 | 0.12 |
| 1960 | 231 | #524 | 0.11 |
| 1959 | 240 | #508 | 0.11 |
| 1958 | 289 | #461 | 0.14 |
| 1957 | 277 | #463 | 0.13 |
| 1956 | 288 | #444 | 0.14 |
| 1955 | 293 | #428 | 0.14 |
| 1954 | 337 | #390 | 0.17 |
| 1953 | 295 | #403 | 0.15 |
| 1952 | 306 | #393 | 0.16 |
| 1951 | 268 | #416 | 0.14 |
| 1950 | 289 | #399 | 0.16 |
| 1949 | 283 | #401 | 0.16 |
| 1948 | 297 | #393 | 0.17 |
| 1947 | 316 | #385 | 0.17 |
| 1946 | 325 | #363 | 0.20 |
| 1945 | 280 | #356 | 0.21 |
| 1944 | 219 | #407 | 0.16 |
| 1943 | 331 | #338 | 0.23 |
| 1942 | 302 | #348 | 0.22 |
| 1941 | 345 | #314 | 0.28 |
| 1940 | 315 | #318 | 0.27 |
| 1939 | 369 | #287 | 0.33 |
| 1938 | 343 | #295 | 0.31 |
| 1937 | 346 | #290 | 0.32 |
| 1936 | 337 | #294 | 0.32 |
| 1935 | 386 | #276 | 0.37 |
| 1934 | 324 | #301 | 0.31 |
| 1933 | 340 | #287 | 0.34 |
| 1932 | 350 | #293 | 0.34 |
| 1931 | 302 | #311 | 0.29 |
| 1930 | 312 | #314 | 0.28 |
| 1929 | 265 | #345 | 0.25 |
| 1928 | 280 | #337 | 0.25 |
| 1927 | 251 | #369 | 0.22 |
| 1926 | 237 | #381 | 0.21 |
| 1925 | 241 | #384 | 0.22 |
| 1924 | 237 | #394 | 0.21 |
| 1923 | 196 | #434 | 0.18 |
| 1922 | 219 | #408 | 0.20 |
| 1921 | 210 | #419 | 0.19 |
| 1920 | 172 | #465 | 0.16 |
| 1919 | 183 | #438 | 0.19 |
| 1918 | 182 | #441 | 0.18 |
| 1917 | 164 | #441 | 0.18 |
| 1916 | 155 | #449 | 0.17 |
| 1915 | 128 | #490 | 0.15 |
| 1914 | 97 | #498 | 0.15 |
| 1913 | 79 | #490 | 0.15 |
| 1912 | 74 | #462 | 0.17 |
| 1911 | 35 | #501 | 0.15 |
| 1910 | 14 | #845 | 0.07 |
| 1909 | 15 | #742 | 0.09 |
| 1908 | 19 | #605 | 0.12 |
| 1907 | 9 | #974 | 0.06 |
| 1906 | 12 | #736 | 0.09 |
| 1905 | 9 | #890 | 0.07 |
| 1904 | 16 | #583 | 0.12 |
| 1903 | 7 | #979 | 0.06 |
| 1902 | 15 | #573 | 0.12 |
| 1901 | 11 | #665 | 0.10 |
| 1900 | 11 | #825 | 0.07 |
| 1899 | 6 | #1,006 | 0.06 |
| 1898 | 8 | #858 | 0.07 |
| 1897 | 7 | #903 | 0.06 |
| 1893 | 9 | #742 | 0.08 |
| 1891 | 6 | #917 | 0.06 |
| 1884 | 6 | #928 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Marlin a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 22,834 Americans recorded as Marlin, 7% are girls and 93% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Marlin: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Marlin, and how old are they?
12,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 55% of the 22,834 Americans ever recorded as Marlin. The median Marlin alive today is 53 years old; half are between 30 and 70.
The 2020 Census counted 15,488 people named Marlin (3,136 women and girls, 12,352 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 13,695 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,160 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,580 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,730 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,040 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,900 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,190 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Marlin born?
The states with the most babies named Marlin are Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio, with 38% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 3,726 | #694 | 2.6× |
| Texas | 1,219 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 1,212 | #742 | 1.1× |
| California | 970 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Minnesota | 854 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Indiana | 809 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Iowa | 786 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Illinois | 667 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Michigan | 562 | #970 | 0.6× |
| Alabama | 557 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Marlin is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Marlin is most over-represented in South Dakota: since 1910 it was given 2.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Marlin with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 55,362 babies since 1880, Marlin is the second most given (41% of them). In 2025 it was given to 104 of their 304 babies (34%), again the second most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Marlin
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Marlin and names like it
- Compare Marlin and MarlonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sMarlin peaked in 1935.
- Pennsylvania’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Marlin since 1910.
- The top names of 1935The year the most babies were named Marlin.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Marlin alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with MMost given first.