ninan.org

Marian

Girls' name · Early 20th-century

Living in the US
~47,700 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,102 among girls
Births in 2025
217 143,295 since 1880
Typical age
71 years, median

Marian popularity over time

Marian rank by birth year, 1880–2025Marian ranked #205 in 1880 and #1,102 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #64, in 1924.#100#1,000#1,102best #64 in 192418901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1924: 4,235 births recorded as Marian. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. Across the record, 23 years put Marian in the top 100.

The 2025 position is #1,102, on 217 births. Year on year the rank improved by 50.

Babies named Marian per yearPeaks at 4,235 births in 1924.4,235 in 1924018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Marian?

Roughly 47,700 Marians are alive in the US right now. That is out of 143,295 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Marian?

Median age among living Marians: 71. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Marian a early 20th-century name.

Your Marian

Ages of living people named MarianHalf of living Marians are older than 71 and half younger.median 71020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Marian is most common

The name is concentrated in Pennsylvania, at 2.1× the national rate. Arizona and Texas follow.

Where Marian is used more than average3 states use the name Marian more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: 2.1× the national ratePANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: 2.0× the national rateAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: 1.7× the national rateTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Marian is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Pennsylvania 129 2.1×
Arizona 71 2.0×
Texas 324 1.7×

Marian in England and Wales

ONS recorded 15 births named Marian in 2025, ranking it #2,605.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Marian comes from

A variant of Marion, a medieval derivation of Mary, often also interpreted as a contraction of Mary and Ann, or as a variant of Mariana.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Marian

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Marian Anderson African-American contralto 1897–1993 56
Marian Rejewski Polish mathematician and cryptologist 1905–1980 42
Marian Lupu Moldovan politician 1966 38
Marian Smoluchowski Polish physicist 1872–1917 28
Marian Seldes American stage, film, radio, and television actress 1928–2014 28
Marian Jaworski Polish Catholic cardinal 1926–2020 26
Marian Keyes Irish writer 1963 25
Marian Spychalski Polish architect, military officer and communist politician 1906–1980 25
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,373 in 1953 to 4,026 in 1954 — 2.9 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

How Marian is usually spelled

Spellings within one or two letters of each other, and how 2025 births divided between them.
SpellingBirths in 2025Share
Marian this page 217 60%
Marion 147 40%

Names similar to Marian

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/marian.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).