ninan.org

Marilyn

Girls' name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~214,800 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#760 among girls
Births in 2025
356 374,857 since 1880
Typical age
73 years, median

Marilyn popularity over time

Marilyn rank by birth year, 1899–2025Marilyn ranked #1,596 in 1899 and #760 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #13, in 1936.#100#1,000#760best #13 in 19361920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1899–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1947: 11,905 births recorded as Marilyn. It first clears the SSA reporting threshold in 1899. Marilyn has spent 34 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #760, on 356 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 52%. Year on year the rank dropped by 95.

Babies named Marilyn per yearPeaks at 11,905 births in 1947.11,905 in 194701920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Marilyn?

About 214,800 people named Marilyn are alive in the United States today. That is out of 374,857 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 Marilyn?

Half of living Marilyns are older than 73, half younger. More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Marilyn a mid-century name.

Your Marilyn

Ages of living people named MarilynHalf of living Marilyns are older than 73 and half younger.median 73020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Marilyn is most common

The name is concentrated in Nevada, at 1.9× the national rate. California, Indiana and Wisconsin follow.

Where Marilyn is used more than average5 states use the name Marilyn 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: 1.5× the national rateWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: 1.9× the national rateNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: 1.5× the national rateINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.6× the national rateCAUtah: 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: not over-representedAZNew 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: 1.4× 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 Marilyn is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Nevada 55 1.9×
California 803 1.6×
Indiana 129 1.5×
Wisconsin 94 1.5×
Texas 636 1.4×

Marilyn in England and Wales

ONS recorded 17 births named Marilyn in 2025, ranking it #1,719. That is 55% higher than five years earlier.

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

Where the name Marilyn comes from

A twentieth-century blend of Mary and Lynn.

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

Notable people named Marilyn

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Marilyn Monroe American actress and model 1926–1962 239
Marilyn Manson American musician 1969 96
Marilyn Waring New Zealand politician and academic 1952 35
Marilyn Chambers American pornographic actress 1952–2009 33
Marilyn Horne American mezzo-soprano opera singer 1934 29
Marilyn French Novelist, critic 1929–2009 27
Marilyn Maxwell American actress and singer 1921–1972 27
Marilyn Burns American actress 1949–2014 24
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 696 in 1921 to 1,703 in 1922 — 2.4 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.

Names similar to Marilyn

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/marilyn.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).