girl's name
Marilyn
MAIR-uh-lin
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 381,596
the United States
#760
2025 births
Marilyn is a girl's name usually read as a blend of Mary and Lyn. Marilyn Monroe did not make it popular — our year-by-year data shows it already 19th in America in 1938 and falling by 1953, when she became a star. She was renamed for the name, not the reverse.
- Marilyn is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1947, when 11,905 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 9,313 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1899.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Marilyn over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 5 |
| 1900s | 132 |
| 1910s | 1,306 |
| 1920s | 34,295 |
| 1930s | 98,875 |
| 1940s | 99,226 |
| 1950s | 80,328 |
| 1960s | 27,105 |
| 1970s | 7,992 |
| 1980s | 5,610 |
| 1990s | 5,766 |
| 2000s | 5,376 |
| 2010s | 6,382 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,459 |
What Marilyn means
Marilyn is generally taken as Mary with the -lyn ending, so it carries Mary's own contested meaning — bitter, beloved and wished-for child are all proposed and none is settled.
Where Marilyn comes from
Marilyn is an American formation, Mary joined to the -lyn ending that also produced Carolyn, Evelyn as a girls' name and Sharlyn. Mary itself descends through the Greek Maria from the Hebrew Miryam, whose meaning is genuinely unresolved — bitterness, beloved, wished-for child and an Egyptian root meaning beloved have all been argued, and no reconstruction has won. Marilyn Miller, a Broadway star of the 1920s, is the bearer who established it, and it was for her that Twentieth Century-Fox renamed Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1946 — choosing a name already fashionable rather than creating one.
Marilyn in use
Marilyn peaked in the United States in 1947, when 11,905 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable. The Monroe association will not survive the year-by-year series: the name was already 19th in America on 9,745 births in 1938, peaked in 1947, and had fallen to 36th by 1953 — the year of Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire — reaching 117th by 1960. It declined straight through her greatest fame. It now ranks 760th in the United States on 356 births, 1737th in England and Wales and 5731st in France, across 381,596 lifetime births.
How popular is Marilyn?
In 2025, Marilyn was given to 356 babies in the United States, ranking #760 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Marilyn is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Marilyn
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Marilyn also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Marilyn over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Marilyn
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Marilyn in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Marilyn
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Marilyn — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Marilyn
What does the name Marilyn mean?
It is Mary plus the -lyn ending, so it carries Mary's own unresolved meaning — bitter, beloved and wished-for child are all proposed.
Did Marilyn Monroe make the name popular?
No. Our data shows it 19th in America in 1938, peaking in 1947, and falling to 36th by 1953 when she became a star.
What was Marilyn Monroe's real name?
Norma Jeane Mortenson. Fox renamed her in 1946 after the Broadway star Marilyn Miller, choosing a name that was already fashionable.
How popular is Marilyn?
760th in the United States, and our data marks it stable rather than falling.
Is Marilyn a girl's or a boy's name?
Marilyn is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Marilyn?
Marilyn has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Marilyn?
Marilyn is usually shortened to Mari and Lyn.
Is Marilyn a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Marilyn currently ranks #760 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.