Boys' name · peaked in 2022
Marcel name popularity since 1925
19,700 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Marcel (4.7% girls, 95.3% boys). Half of them were born in 1991 or earlier, so the typical Marcel is about 35 years old in 2026. Marcel peaked in 2022 as the #659 name for boys, and it ranked #731 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 19,700
- Named Marcel, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #731
- for boys in 2025 (364 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 95.3% boys
- 919 girls · 18,781 boys
- Most popular in
- Maine
- 6.35× its national share
Peak year is the year Marcel made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Marcel births per year, 1925–2025
2022 was the biggest year for Marcel both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1960 and 1965, Marcel became 1.5× more common, from 1 in 17,300 baby boys to 1 in 11,200.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Marcel's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Marcel.
Decade by decade
Babies named Marcel in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 31 | 673 | – |
| 1930s | 37 | 877 | #736 |
| 1940s | 63 | 757 | #704 |
| 1950s | 170 | 1,035 | #805 |
| 1960s | 245 | 1,451 | #591 |
| 1970s | 164 | 1,718 | #597 |
| 1980s | 87 | 2,139 | #617 |
| 1990s | 75 | 2,793 | #656 |
| 2000s | 37 | 2,253 | #806 |
| 2010s | 10 | 2,864 | #772 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 2,221 | #731 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
22.0% of babies named Marcel from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Alpha years (2013–2025). The full split by generation:
Where Marcel is most popular
The index compares Marcel's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Marcel.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Maine | 6.35× | 397 |
| Louisiana | 2.32× | 610 |
| Florida | 1.95× | 1,028 |
| Massachusetts | 1.81× | 629 |
| California | 1.72× | 2,666 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Marcel and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Marcel (this page) | 18,781 | 2022 |
| Markel | 4,708 | 1999 |
| Marcell | 4,685 | 1991 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Marcel's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Marcel.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Marcel (2022).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data