Boys' name · peaked in 1935
Marlin name popularity since 1925
20,507 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Marlin (8.0% girls, 92.0% boys). Half of them were born in 1957 or earlier, so the typical Marlin is about 69 years old in 2026. Marlin peaked in 1935 as the #276 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 20,507
- Named Marlin, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,788 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 92.0% boys
- 1,646 girls · 18,861 boys
- Most popular in
- Pennsylvania
- 4.05× its national share
Peak year is the year Marlin 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.
Marlin births per year, 1925–2025
1935 was the biggest year for Marlin both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Steepest fall: Between 1939 and 1944, Marlin's share of baby boys fell by 52%, from 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 6,220.
- Fastest rise: Between 1969 and 1974, it became 1.6× more common, from 1 in 11,100 baby boys to 1 in 6,960.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Marlin's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Marlin.
Decade by decade
Babies named Marlin 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 | 26 | 1,274 | – |
| 1930s | 99 | 3,409 | #276 |
| 1940s | 130 | 3,013 | #356 |
| 1950s | 107 | 2,882 | #429 |
| 1960s | 136 | 2,092 | #520 |
| 1970s | 103 | 1,838 | #661 |
| 1980s | 166 | 1,125 | #883 |
| 1990s | 274 | 1,094 | #1,048 |
| 2000s | 336 | 878 | #1,467 |
| 2010s | 195 | 779 | #1,820 |
| 2020–25 | 74 | 477 | #1,788 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
28.9% of babies named Marlin from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Marlin is most popular
The index compares Marlin'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 Marlin.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 4.05× | 3,065 |
| Nebraska | 3.91× | 408 |
| Iowa | 3.71× | 703 |
| Minnesota | 2.90× | 789 |
| Kansas | 2.82× | 429 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Marlin 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Marlin (this page) | 18,861 | 1935 |
| Marlon | 30,830 | 1972 |
| Marlan | 1,157 | 1937 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Marlin's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Marlin.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Marlin (1935).
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