Girls' name · peaked in 1928
Marian name popularity since 1925
93,198 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Marian (99.1% girls, 0.9% boys). Half of them were born in 1941 or earlier, so the typical Marian is about 85 years old in 2026. Marian peaked in 1928 as the #71 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 93,198
- Named Marian, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1928
- #71 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,103 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.1% girls
- 92,370 girls · 828 boys
- Most popular in
- Pennsylvania
- 2.26× its national share
Peak year is the year Marian made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Marian births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1954. Measured as a share of all babies, Marian peaked in 1928.
- Fastest rise: Between 1949 and 1954, Marian became 2.6× more common, from 1 in 1,260 baby girls to 1 in 484.
- Steepest fall: Between 1954 and 1959, its share of baby girls fell by 74%, from 1 in 484 to 1 in 1,890.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Marian's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Marian.
Decade by decade
Babies named Marian in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 18,892 | 176 | – |
| 1930s | 23,907 | 244 | #105 |
| 1940s | 16,041 | 80 | #163 |
| 1950s | 15,340 | 94 | #208 |
| 1960s | 6,768 | 74 | #373 |
| 1970s | 2,480 | 45 | #715 |
| 1980s | 1,989 | 39 | #813 |
| 1990s | 1,771 | 37 | #1,148 |
| 2000s | 2,070 | 12 | #1,144 |
| 2010s | 1,925 | 16 | #1,100 |
| 2020–25 | 1,187 | 11 | #1,103 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
44.7% of babies named Marian from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Marian is most popular
The index compares Marian'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 Marian.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 2.26× | 10,286 |
| North Dakota | 2.24× | 631 |
| Montana | 1.67× | 438 |
| South Dakota | 1.66× | 473 |
| District of Columbia | 1.62× | 668 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Marian and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Marian (this page) | 92,370 | 1928 |
| Marion | 101,128 | 1917 |
| Mariann | 6,939 | 1957 |
| Maryan | 1,321 | 1909 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Marian's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Marian.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Marian (1928).
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