girl's name
Marine
ma-REEN
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 120,784
Marine means of the sea, and it is a rare case of a French name that is also an ordinary English word — which is why it reads as a job title in one language and a girl's name in another.
- Marine is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1991, when 8,200 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 16,843 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Marine over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 125 |
| 1910s | 105 |
| 1920s | 100 |
| 1930s | 85 |
| 1940s | 105 |
| 1950s | 270 |
| 1960s | 670 |
| 1970s | 2,945 |
| 1980s | 25,575 |
| 1990s | 64,130 |
| 2000s | 22,265 |
| 2010s | 2,425 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 250 |
What Marine means
Marine means of the sea. The Latin marinus is the ordinary adjective built on mare, the sea, so the name describes belonging to the sea rather than being it.
Where Marine comes from
Marine is the French feminine of the Latin marinus, of the sea, from mare — the same root as maritime, marina and submarine, and cognate with the Irish muir behind Muriel. Saint Marina, also called Margaret of Antioch, was one of the voices Joan of Arc reported hearing. The English word marine, meaning a soldier serving at sea, comes from the same Latin by a different route, which is why the name reads as a military rank to English speakers and as an ordinary girl's name in France.
Marine in use
Marine peaked in France in 1991, when 8,200 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in three of the seven markets we track — 1040th in France on 35 births, 1057th in Canada and 13701st in the United States on 6 — across 120,784 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1900, though almost all volume falls after 1975.
How popular is Marine?
In 2025, Marine was given to 35 babies in France. It is a rare choice.
Where Marine is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Marine
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Marine also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Marine over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Marine 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 Marine
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Marine — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Marine
What does the name Marine mean?
Of the sea — the Latin marinus, from mare.
Is it the same word as a marine soldier?
Same Latin root by a different route, which is why it reads as a rank in English and a name in French.
Is Marine related to Muriel?
In sense and root — the Irish muir and the Latin mare are cognates.
How popular is Marine?
1040th in France, down from a 1991 peak of 8,200 births.
Is Marine a girl's or a boy's name?
Marine is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Marine?
Marine has 2 syllables.
Is Marine a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Marine currently ranks #1,040 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.